Golden Eyes
by junodog
Summary: Equivalent Exchange: These two boys believe in it. In fact, it's what they know best. But when the CSI team finds two goldeneyed boys trapped in a murderer's apartment, equivalent exchange loses all meaning. Rated for adult themes xoverCSI plotholemonster
1. Chapter 1

Well, I got bored, so I decided to move this over to the FMA category. It's based on the manga. And stuff. So yeah.

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Fifteen minutes into his shift, Grissom found himself at a crime scene in a small apartment that housed two men and, from the looks of it, at least one child. They'd gotten a call earlier from one of the neighbors who had heard shouts and screams from the apartment, and by the time they had arrived, the man sprawled out on the kitchen floor had died, most likely from the knife wounds that revealed his intestines and rendered his face completely unrecognizable.

"Do we have an ID on this guy?" he asked Warrick.

"Not yet. According to the landlord, one of the two inhabitants was just staying for a visit, and this guy's face is too destroyed to find out which of the two he is."

"What about kids?"

"Landlord never saw any, and other than this guy, this place was empty when we got here."

"Let's take another look around. We might have a kidnapping to investigate, too."

"Right."

At that moment, the two heard a thud from the living room. Drawing their guns, the two entered the living room, looking for the source of the noise. There was another thud, and that was when they noticed the square that was slightly sticking out of the back of the couch.

"Smart place to hide," Warrick muttered as they approached it.

"Who's there?" Grissom asked, raising his voice so that whoever was inside could hear him. He wasn't terribly surprised when a child's voice replied.

"Let us out!" came the shout from what sounded like a boy, one that couldn't have been older than eight or nine.

The two CSIs knelt down in front of the couch and began looking to see how they could pry the wood away from the back of the couch. It was nailed down, so Warrick stood up and went to find something to pry the nails loose.

"Just wait a couple of minutes, we'll get you out as soon as we can. Can you breathe in there?"

When Grissom got a reply, it was from a different voice. "Yeah."

Warrick returned quickly, and they got to work. Once they had gotten the nails out, Grissom pulled the wood back to reveal two young boys with matching golden eyes and hair.

"Are you two okay?" Grissom asked, kneeling down so that he was at eye level with the boys. There was a split second in which neither seemed to be able to move, and then one got out of the cramped space with surprising speed and tried to run for the door. Warrick managed to grab him by the arm before he got very far.

"Whoa there, where are you going?" Warrick asked as Grissom helped the other boy out of the space.

"Let go of me!" the smaller boy shouted, struggling wildly to get away from Warrick. The calmer one looked from Grissom to Warrick to the smaller boy before pulling something out from his pocket and nailing his companion in the head. The smaller one stopped struggling as soon as he realized what had hit him, and he glared at the calmer one. The calm one returned the glare, and some unspoken agreement seemed to pass between the two, because the small one finally relaxed. Warrick let go of him, and both boys looked expectantly at Grissom.

"Who are you?" the small one asked.

Grissom pulled out his badge and showed it to the two. "We're police officers. We're here to help."

The small one narrowed his eyes and looked Grissom straight in the eye for a moment, as if he was trying to determine something. Then there was a small nod, a subtle sign that the small boy was willing to trust Grissom.

"Come on, let's get you out of here."

THIS IS WHERE THE OPENING CREDITS WOULD GO IF THIS WERE A REAL EPISODE OF CSI!

"Hey, check this out," Warrick said, pointing to the plywood that had been the door to the boys' prison. Grissom leaned down and inspected it. He frowned.

"Looks like someone's part of a cult," he said, pulling his stuff out to get a blood sample from the hastily drawn array. "Our killer, maybe?"

"Or one of those kids."

"They don't seem the type, but I guess it doesn't hurt to check. I'll have a chat with them when we get back to the station."

"I wonder how long they were in here."

Grissom changed his position so that he could easily see into the hole in the back of the couch. Not only had the entrance been blocked off with plywood, but so had the sides and the back of the space. "Well, it doesn't smell too bad, so either the kidnapper let them use the bathroom, or it's been less than a day. Unless these kids have amazingly large bladders."

"At that age? I like the first two theories better."

"Who knows? Maybe the smaller one was only trying to find a bathroom."

Warrick shook his head. "Well, I think we're about done here, don't you?"

"For now, at least." Grissom stood up. "Well, I can understand why he tried to make a break for it. I think just about anyone would want to get the hell away from there."

"I guess all we can do is find their parents and hope these kids are willing to answer our questions."

"Or maybe they'll just tell us everything on their own."

"Could be."

Grissom looked out the window to where the two boys were getting checked out by paramedics. "Well, I know one thing. Those two aren't normal."

"Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with eyes like that. Think that might have anything to do with our case?"

Grissom stood in a dramatic pose fitting the situation, still looking out the window. "Could be."

---------------

Other than a few scrapes and bruises, along with the beginning signs of malnourishment, the two boys, named Edward and Alphonse Elric, seemed to be in good shape. Grissom watched them out of the corner of his eye as he drove them back to the station. There was so much he wanted to ask them, but there was something else he had to do first: find their guardian.

He noted during the car ride that Edward and Alphonse seemed to be in awe of their surroundings. It made him think they'd never been to a city before. It also made him think that they hadn't been affected too badly by whatever had happened to them, meaning that whatever had been done to them couldn't have been very traumatizing, which let him breathe easier.

"So, is this your first time in a city?" he asked the brothers after a while.

"Yeah," Edward replied. "Back home's really small compared to this."

"Where do you live?"

"Resembool," Alphonse answered. "It's surrounded by mountains and stuff, and the only way to get anywhere else is by train, so we never really went anywhere."

"By train?" _Where exactly is this town?_ Grissom thought as he parked the car.

"Yeah, only people didn't use it for a while," Al said, looking solemn as he and his brother followed Grissom to the station.

"Why not?"

"Some people blew up part of the train station," Ed replied, not sounding too happy about the fact. Grissom was startled. He hadn't expected that…

They went inside, and Grissom led the boys into one of the interrogation rooms. That awed expression he'd seen in the car had returned to both of their faces as they walked through the station, and Grissom couldn't help but be amused.

"So, can you two tell me a few things about yourselves?" Grissom asked.

"Like what?" Ed asked.

"How about your parents' names? You probably want to go home now, right?"

The two were quiet for a minute before Ed replied. "We don't have parents."

"No? Then who do you live with now?"

"You mean like our guardian?"

Grissom nodded.

"Pinako Rockbell. She's our friend's grandmother."

"Can you tell me how to get in touch with her?"

Ed frowned. "I don't remember the phone number. We didn't ever use it much since our houses are so close together."

"Okay, how about a street address? Do you know that?"

Ed shrugged. "We never needed to know that either."

"Okay… Well, can you just tell me the zip code and what state Resembool is in? We can find her with just that."

The two just looked confused.

Grissom sighed. "Do you not know that either?"

"We don't have anything like that back home."

"You don't?"

Ed shook his head.

"Okay, next question. What _country_ do you live in?"

"Amestris."

Grissom blinked. The name sounded familiar, but not because he'd heard of a country with that name…

"Where is that exactly?"

Ed and Al looked at each other for a while, as if trying to figure it out. After a minute, they looked back at Grissom.

"Can we see a map or something?" Al asked. "We only know the countries around where we live."

Grissom thought about it for a moment before standing up. "Here, come with me."

He led them into his office, where he noticed that they seemed even more in awe of what they were seeing. He figured it was because of all the jars on the different shelves, and he didn't think much about it as he turned on the computer.

The computer was a source of fascination to the boys as well. At this point in time, Grissom was becoming a little suspicious. Had they never seen a computer before? No, that didn't make sense…

"What is that?" Al asked finally, giving Grissom a curious look. It took Grissom a minute to realize that Al was talking about the computer.

"It's a computer," Grissom replied, figuring that would be enough.

"What's it do?" Ed asked next.

Grissom was surprised. Not seeing a computer before was one thing, but not even knowing what it was? This was definitely suspicious…

"It lets you do a lot of things, like looking up information, writing documents, listening to music, even contacting people on the other side of the world in seconds," Grissom answered.

"Really?" Ed sounded impressed.

"Yeah. You've never heard of computers before?"

Ed shook his head. "Nope."

_Strange, _Grissom thought. _Very strange…_ He'd thought that maybe the boys were from a third-world country, but if they spoke English fluently then there didn't seem to be any good reason why they wouldn't know about computers…

Grissom quickly found a world map online, and moved to let the boys study it. It had been quiet for a while when Ed suddenly pointed to a corner of the screen. "Wait, what's that?"

Grissom looked at where Ed was pointing, and looked back at Ed in confusion. "That's today's date."

Ed looked at it again. "But… It's May, isn't it?"

"No, it's June."

Ed frowned. "But back home it was May…"

Grissom frowned. "How long have you been away from home?"

"I dunno."

Al was counting on his fingers, and he finally looked up at Grissom. "Five days."

"And it's May there?"

Both brothers nodded.

_This is getting interesting…_ Grissom thought. Then a theory came to his mind. "What year is it where you're from?"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "1908. Why?"

Grissom quickly pulled something up on the computer screen. "Here, the date is June 16th, 2001."

"Eh?"

Ed frowned. "Then… how did so much time pass?"

"I don't think that's it," Grissom said. He had been studying the map during this conversation, and his theory had been formed completely in his mind. "Don't worry about it for now, okay? Let's just focus on trying to find the man who hurt you."

The brothers nodded, and Grissom noticed Al yawn. He looked over at Ed, and sure enough, both of the boys looked like they were about to fall asleep where they stood. He sighed. It looked like most of his questions would have to wait.

----------------

The awe on the boys' faces seemed to be disappearing as Grissom brought them elsewhere to get their fingerprints and DNA. Or rather, it wasn't disappearing, but it was turning into something else. They seemed to be observing now, looking at their surroundings and, Grissom thought, they understood why everything was so much more advanced now. He was impressed. If they were used to technology from the early twentieth century, then being able to make a connection like that was not only going to make it easier for the boys to adjust, but it showed that they knew more about technology than he'd thought at first.

He left the boys with Warrick and went out into the hall to observe them. Of course, he hadn't told anyone else about the whole 1908 thing yet…

"Okay, let's start with your fingerprints, okay?" Warrick asked. Ed looked at his hand curiously for a moment before seeming to realize something and nodding. So it seemed that the boys knew the basic idea of leaving fingerprints behind…

Once both boys had given their prints, Warrick brought out the DNA stuff. That was the point where things got interesting.

"What's that?" Al asked.

"It's for getting DNA samples," Warrick replied before going into an explanation that the boys would be able to understand. "If we find blood or something else that comes from a human body back in that place, then we can see who it belongs to, and we can find whoever did this more easily."

Ed frowned. "But how could you do that if you've never met someone and you find their blood or something?"

Out in the hall, Grissom raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Edward, you're pretty sharp," Warrick replied. "Actually, it's more of a test to see whether or not it matches another DNA sample. If we have a sample that we know came from a certain person, and if a sample we find out in a crime scene matches that, then we can say for sure that it comes from that person."

"Oh."

"So you want DNA samples from us?" Al asked.

Warrick nodded. "Yeah, if that's okay with you."

Both brothers nodded, and a few minutes later, they came out of the room with Warrick. Grissom took charge of the boys from there, leading them to a different part of the station where they could rest for a while.

--------------

"So, where are they now?" Catherine asked as Grissom came into the break room.

"Sleeping, and I get the feeling they won't be waking up for a long time," Grissom replied.

"Did they tell you much?"

"No, not yet. I didn't get anything about what happened to them. Although, I did learn something else that's just as interesting."

"Really? What?"

"Edward Elric was born in the winter of 1899."

Catherine looked confused, and Grissom decided to continue. "It would explain a lot, wouldn't it? The confusion when they saw today's date, their fascination with just about every kind of technology they've encountered since we found them, even their personalities to an extent. And to add to the fun, they're from a country that doesn't seem to exist on this planet, and yet they speak perfect English."

Catherine still looked confused. "So… what's your theory?"

"Well, to me, it seems like these two were raised in some sort of… the best example I can think of is an Amish community, but with a few key differences."

Catherine nodded her understanding. "Makes sense."

"There's a few problems with that theory, though."

"Like?"

"They also mentioned something that sounds to me like their 'town' was victim to a terrorist attack. Apparently the train station was targeted."

"So they're taking extra steps to make sure people stay in town?"

"That would make more sense if the trains hadn't been working up until that point, and even afterwards. Unless whoever's taking care of these kids is very thorough, there's no way they wouldn't have heard about what's beyond their little town."

Catherine frowned. "Not to mention their security isn't very tight."

"Exactly. After Warrick was done with fingerprints and DNA, they told me that whoever had kidnapped them had denied the existence of their country, so unless he's involved with this… whatever it is, he couldn't have known much about it." Grissom sighed. "Either way, I don't think there's a big chance we'll be getting these kids home." He decided not to tell Catherine about the feeling of familiarity the name Amestris gave him.

"How about the case? I get the feeling it won't be too hard to make an arrest once they tell us what happened."

"Same here." Grissom frowned. "But what I don't get is why that guy went through all the trouble to kidnap two boys from the middle of nowhere, and not bother to take them with him when he left."

"Maybe he was planning on coming back," Catherine suggested.

Grissom looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe he will."

Catherine saw the look on his face and rolled her eyes dramatically. "Don't get your hopes up."

---------------

So yeah, that's chapter one, and this _will_ be a three-part story, so if you think it's done, it probably isn't. I'll say when it's the final chapter. ;O

And much thanks to AkitaFallow, who prevented me from making this be completely full of OOC moments and being my beta, and pretty much inspiring this fic in general. So if you like this one, go read hers, it's really good and stuff.


	2. Chapter 2

So… chapter two.

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Ed was up before Al, and he was watching his brother when Catherine came into the room. She noticed that Ed didn't look happy, and a glance at his brother told Catherine why.

"He doesn't look too good," Catherine said, kneeling down next to Ed and placing a hand on Al's pale, sweaty forehead. It was warmer than it should have been. "How long has he been sick?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't remember when I noticed, but I think it's just been a couple of days."

"How was he sick, exactly?"

Ed frowned. "Like this, pretty much. He kept getting dizzy, but he didn't say anything about his stomach hurting or a headache or anything else. I think he was just trying to hide it from me, though."

"How about you?"

Ed shook his head. "I'm fine."

Catherine stood up. "Well, it's probably nothing too serious, but we should take him to see a doctor when he wakes up."

"Okay."

"You're a good brother, Edward."

Ed continued to watch his brother. "He's the only family I have left. Mom made us promise to watch out for each other."

Catherine frowned. "What happened to her?"

"She died four years ago. She was sick."

"What about your father?"

Ed's eyes narrowed. "He ditched us before Mom died. Nobody knows where he went."

"I see." Catherine looked at Al, who was still sleeping, before looking back at Ed. "Well, I came here to get you two. Mr. Grissom wants to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About what happened. Can you do that?"

Ed looked nervously at Al for a moment.

"I'll take Alphonse to a doctor when he wakes up, but right now we need to know what happened, okay?"

Ed looked straight into Catherine's eyes for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

They walked down to Grissom's office, and Catherine had Ed wait in the hallway as she went inside. Grissom looked up from whatever paper he was reading and set it down.

"Are they willing to talk?"

"Edward is."

"What about Alphonse?"

"He was asleep when I went in, but he isn't doing too well. I think he needs to see a doctor."

Grissom frowned. "Shouldn't we have known if something was seriously wrong?"

"The paramedics only checked for injuries, and the boys themselves said they weren't sick. Edward said that Alphonse seemed to be trying to hide the fact that he was sick from him, so I get the feeling Alphonse was lying."

"Great," Grissom muttered. "Did you find anything else out?"

"Yeah," Catherine answered. "Edward told me about his parents."

"And?"

"Their father left, and their mother died soon after due to some illness."

"Do they remember their parents?"

"It was four years ago that this happened. Alphonse might not remember as well, but Edward definitely does."

"Hmm…"

Catherine sighed. "Didn't you say we would deal with their origins later?"

"I did. Are you going to take Alphonse?"

"Yeah, I will. Should I send Edward in now?"

"Yes."

--------------

Ed was quiet when he entered Grissom's office. Grissom gestured to one of the chairs, and Ed sat down, still without saying a word. There was a slightly uncomfortable silence for a minute before Grissom spoke.

"So, Catherine's going to take your brother to the doctor's office."

Ed nodded. It was painfully obvious that he was still worried about Al.

"So you were in that apartment for five days?"

Ed nodded. "Something like that."

"How did you get there?"

"I don't know, exactly."

"Do you remember him approaching you at all?"

Ed nodded.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Another nod.

"Okay, go ahead."

_After the funeral for Winry's parents, Ed had spent the rest of the day at Winry's side, trying to make her feel better however he could. He didn't leave her side until she finally cried herself to sleep, and then he made sure nobody else would see him before sneaking out of the Rockbell home. He walked silently down the road to the cemetery, stopping right in front of his mother's grave._

_He didn't need to read the engraving to make sure it was the right one. He sat in front of it, not moving an inch, even when he felt a few raindrops. He didn't even move when he heard someone sit next to him._

"_Winry probably feels worse than us right now. Brother…"_

"_No, Al. We can't."_

"_I know, but I wish we could. Winry deserves to have her parents back, too."_

"_She does, but Pinako wouldn't let us. Maybe after we get Mom back…"_

"_Yeah…"_

_They sat in silence for a while longer before mutually deciding to go back. As they walked down the road, the rain came down harder, and they began to run._

_All of a sudden, the two hit something and fell into a heap on the ground. They got up, rubbing their heads, and looked to see what they had hit._

"_Watch where you're going, you brats!"_

"_Sorry, we couldn't see you with all the rain…" Ed trailed off when he saw a knife at his brother's throat._

"_Come here, kid. Otherwise my hand might slip…"_

_Ed shakily took a few steps forward and stopped when the man told him to stop. He looked fearfully into his brother's eyes, and suddenly something struck the side of his head, and he was on the ground, and soon everything was black._

"And the next thing I remember was waking up in a room in that guy's apartment," Ed finished.

"Did he ever say why he was keeping you there?"

Ed shook his head. "No."

"What did he do with you?"

Ed frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Did he ever touch you in an uncomfortable place, or make you touch him somewhere?"

Ed shook his head. "No. He hit us a few times, but that was it."

"Was Alphonse ever alone in a different room with him?"

Ed shook his head. "Not really."

Grissom felt relieved. Even if this guy was a pedophile, he hadn't gotten too far with the boys. Now to find some more out…

--------------

Catherine waited a few minutes after leaving Ed with Grissom before going to get Al. She knelt down next to him and gently shook him by the shoulder. Al wearily opened his eyes and blinked a few times before looking up at Catherine. He sat up with some effort and began rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Catherine asked.

"Not so good."

"You have a pretty bad fever right now. I'm going to take you to see a doctor, okay?"

Al nodded. "Where's brother?"

"Edward's talking with Mr. Grissom."

"Oh, okay."

She somehow got Al into her car, and drove to the same place she usually took Lindsey, stopping on the way to get something for Al to eat. He was very polite throughout the entire visit, following the doctor's instructions without making a fuss. Catherine had the feeling Ed wouldn't be behaving like this…

The doctor approached Catherine as one of the nurses was distracting Al with something shiny.

"He's got the flu, and since he's been eating less than he should, it's more severe than it usually is," the doctor said. "He should be fine, as long as you take good care of him, and I don't think we need to worry about that," he finished with a winning smile.

"Thanks," Catherine replied.

"Oh, and I managed to do that other test you asked me to do without him asking too much about it. He hasn't been molested at all."

Catherine said her thanks as the nurse brought Al over. He seemed to be looking somewhat better, and she let him sleep as she drove him back to the station.

------------------

Before Grissom could ask any more questions, Ed's stomach growled. Very loudly. His face turned red and he looked pointedly away from Grissom.

"You hungry?" Grissom asked, looking at the time. He was going to have to eat soon anyway…

"Yeah…"

"Then why don't we take a break and go get something to eat? I'm hungry, too."

Ed nodded, his face slowly turning back to a normal color. Grissom stood up and walked to the door, and Ed followed, walking quietly through the station to the front desk, where Grissom stopped to give a message to the secretary before taking Ed to a nearby restaurant.

Ed was quiet as they ate, poking at his food with an almost thoughtful expression on his face. After a while, he looked up at Grissom.

"What's it like living here?" he asked.

"Living here? What do you mean?"

Ed looked back down at his plate. "Ever since I can remember… no, even before that, from what I've heard, my country's always been at war, and some of the families near where I live have lost someone." Ed curled his left hand into a fist before he continued. "That's how Winry's parents died, too, and they weren't even soldiers," he practically whispered. Then he looked up again. "Is it different here?"

Grissom was surprised at the question. He'd seen a lot, but kids who were so badly affected by war wasn't something he was used to. No wonder the brothers seemed more mature than most kids their age… "Yes, it's very different. There are wars and other conflicts, but they're in different countries, almost halfway across the world, and they don't usually directly affect this country."

"So it's more peaceful?"

"In most ways, yes, but there tends to be a higher murder rate here than in any other country. I've worked on a lot of cases through the years."

Ed frowned. "I thought that was common in most cities."

"Yes, but if you take an American city and compare it to a city in say, Europe, you'll see a difference."

"But… it still couldn't be as bad as it is back home."

"No, I don't think it is. Are you finished?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah."

On the way back, Grissom decided it was time for a change in subject. There was still a lot he needed to know…

---------------

As they arrived back at the station, Catherine noted that Al would probably be up to talking about what had happened to him and his brother, and she decided that it would be better to ask him now while he was awake.

As Al described their first encounter with the man, Catherine felt a pang of anger as she realized that these boys had been kidnapped right after their friend had lost her parents. She couldn't imagine how that girl was feeling now, losing her best friends right after her parents' funeral…

"And what happened when you woke up?"

Al frowned. "Well, I woke up first…"

_Al was first aware of voices coming from what seemed to be a different room. He opened his eyes to see that he was lying on his side on a bed that he was sharing with his brother. He tried to get up, but his hands were tied behind his back, and he simply fell back down. It didn't take him long to notice that he was also gagged._

_After a moment, someone came into the room, and Al cringed when he saw who it was. The kidnapper approached him and roughly pulled him into a sitting position._

"_I suppose you'd like to have your hands free," the man said._

_Al nodded, looking fearfully up at the man before glancing at his brother. The man laughed._

"_No, I'm not letting him go just yet. Just you. He'll get his taste of freedom later."_

_The man reached around Al's head and began untying the gag. Once that was gone, the man reached lower down to untie Al's hands, getting closer than Al thought was necessary, but a second later, he could move again._

"_What do you want with us?" Al asked quietly, not wanting to anger the man._

"_You'll find out later," the man replied, running a hand through Al's hair for some reason before stepping back. "But for now, all I'm going to say is that I'm not going to kill you. In fact, you'll be home in two weeks at the most."_

"_We will?"_

"_That's what I said, isn't it?" The man sounded irritated. "I never kill unless someone's exceedingly aggravating, and you're not going to be like that, now are you?"_

_Al immediately shook his head. This guy was scary, and Al didn't want to get on his bad side, especially when Ed was so vulnerable…_

"_Good. Now come with me."_

_Al hesitated before following the man out into a living room. Someone else was sitting on the couch, and he glanced at Al before turning to the kidnapper._

"_I'm leaving now. Don't interfere with my plans, and I won't interfere with your love life, got it?" the kidnapper said._

_The other man let out a resigned sigh. "Fine."_

"_Good." The kidnapper turned to Al. "Now, I'll explain all the rules later, but this should suffice for now. Don't go into the kitchen. Don't untie your brother. Don't try to escape. I'll be back later."_

_The kidnapper left, leaving Al standing in the living room with the other man. The man waited a moment before standing up with a sigh._

"_Well, I guess I should see if I can help you guys out," the man said, leaning down so that he was closer to Al's eye level. "Are you injured at all?"_

_Al shook his head. "No, I don't think so…"_

"_Okay, good. Let's check on the other one now."_

"_The other one? You mean my brother?"_

"_He's your brother?" the man asked. "Yeah, I guess you do look alike, but I didn't know for sure."_

_They walked into the room, and the man gently examined Ed for a few minutes before standing up. "He's got a pretty big bump on his head, but other than that I think he's probably fine. I'm going to go check for an ice pack or something for it, okay?"_

"_Okay…" Al watched his brother for signs of movement as the other man went into the kitchen._

"What did they look like?" Catherine asked.

"Well, the one guy who was nicer to us had brown hair and blue eyes… his skin was tan, like he spent a lot of time outside, his teeth were crooked, and he had a scar on the right side of his face."

"Okay. How are you feeling?"

Al shrugged. "Okay, I guess…"

"Here, why don't you relax for a while? I have to go check something."

"Okay."

------------------

"So, what happened when you woke up?"

Ed paused for a minute before coming to a realization. "Oh. Right."

"_Brother…?"_

_Ed looked up to see his brother standing in front of him, and a man who had just walked into the room with something in his hands. Ed's hands were tied firmly behind his back, and he felt something around each ankle. He was also gagged._

"_Oh, he's awake now," the man said as he knelt down next to the bed on which Ed lay. He took the object in his hands and placed it on the side of Ed's head, where he had been hit. "How's your head? Does it hurt much?"_

_Ed nodded his head and looked over at Al._

"_This isn't the person who kidnapped us, brother. He's just staying here for a while."_

_The man shifted the object on Ed's head. "Yeah, sorry about this, but my old roommate doesn't have anything else I can use as an icepack. I'm surprised he even had this."_

"What was it?" Grissom asked.

Ed shrugged. "I dunno. I think there was a picture of vegetables on it, but I wasn't really looking."

"Ah." _A bag of frozen peas, then?_ Grissom thought to himself.

"Should I keep going?" Ed asked.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"Okay."

_The man looked over at Al and gestured to the door. "Can you watch for him? I'm going to get rid of the gag for a while."_

_Al nodded and left the room. The man pulled the gag away from Ed's mouth and sat down on the bed._

"_Is this okay? I'd untie your hands too, but I don't know when he's going to be back."_

"_Where are we? What's going on?" Ed asked._

"_We're in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a small apartment belonging to someone I used to call a friend. He brought you here because he… wants to do something with you. I'd get you out of here, but he has something he's using against me, so I can't. But I'm going to try and help you as much as I can, okay?"_

"_What does he want to do with us?"_

_The man hesitated, and there was a panicked cry from outside the room. The man replaced the gag and left soon after with the cold thing._

Grissom parked the car and led Ed back to the station.

"What did this man look like?"

Ed frowned. "He had dark hair… I think he might've had a scar on his cheek…"

"Which cheek?"

"The right one. His skin was kinda dark, too, and his teeth were crooked."

"How dark was it?"

"Hmm… darker than mine, but not too dark… it looked like he was outside a lot."

"What about his eyes?"

Ed frowned again. "Bluish… I think."

Grissom made a mental note of all of this and had Ed sit down in the waiting room. "Wait here for a minute, okay? I'll be right back."

Ed nodded. Grissom walked down the hall to the morgue, meeting up with Catherine on the way.

"Brown hair, blue eyes, scar on the right cheek, bad teeth, and pretty tan?" Catherine asked.

"Yep," Grissom answered.

"Not to mention he's too much of a coward to call the police on what seems to be a pedophile."

"Well, he may have gotten a little too brave in the end," Grissom said. "Assuming he's our vic."

---------------

Indeed, the body in the morgue matched the boys' descriptions, and the C.O.D. was a deep gash from a weapon that went through the man's skull and straight into his brain. With this knowledge in mind, Grissom and Catherine went back to questioning the boys, but then Grissom stopped.

"We should get a description of the kidnapper."

"We haven't yet?"

Grissom shook his head. "I think we've been a little distracted since we found them, and that sketch artist is only in town for a few more hours."

"Right."

They broke off to retrieve each brother, and had the two wait in one of the interrogation rooms while Catherine went to find the sketch artist. While they waited, Grissom decided to see if he could get to know the boys a little better. Maybe he could find out why the kidnapper chose them.

"So," Grissom casually began. "What do you two usually do for fun?"

"Huh?"

"Well, to be honest, I don't know how long you have to stay here, since we can't get a hold of your guardian, so I thought it might be a good idea if you could do something you enjoy doing."

"Oh." The brothers exchanged glances before Ed turned to Grissom. "Well, we're trying to get better at something, but I don't think it's something we can do unless we're at home."

"Really? What's that?"

"Alchemy."

Grissom kept his face blank. "Really?"

The two nodded. "Yeah."

"So you two can use alchemy?"

They nodded again.

"You know, I don't know much about alchemy. Can you explain it to me?"

"Yeah!" Al sounded excited. "Alchemy is basically knowledge, deconstruction, and reconstruction of an object. So if you know what something's made out of, then you can deconstruct it, and then if you know what you want to make is made out of, and it's the same materials from whatever you deconstructed, then you can make it using a transmutation circle. A circle's pretty much the way you channel the energy from the movements of the Earth's crust and, along with a formula, use it for a transmutation."

Ed continued at that point. "But you have to remember the law of equivalent exchange. You have to know everything about what whatever transmutation you're going to do, and you have to have all the materials that are going to make up whatever it is you're going to be making, otherwise it won't work…"

There it was. The one question that seemed to turn both brothers into fact-spewing monsters. Grissom decided to ask the boys for a demonstration later, just to see how they would try to do something that was impossible.

Although, their explanation made it sound fairly realistic… but no. If alchemy really was possible, it wouldn't be an element of fantasy stories.

"…so we've been studying a lot about the elements and stuff, and we've ended up fixing a lot of stuff for people who live near us." Ed paused when he saw the thoughtful look on Grissom's face. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. I was just wondering, would you be willing to show me sometime?"

"You mean like transmuting something? Yeah, we can do that."

"Great. I look forward to it."

The boys smiled excitedly at each other as the door opened. Catherine came into the room, leading a man inside and directing him to a seat near the boys.

"This man is going to try and draw the person who kidnapped you," Catherine explained. "So you need to tell him everything you can remember about that man's face, and answer any questions he has as well as you can, okay?"

The two nodded, and they began.

----------------

So… I have nothing interesting to say. Do _you?_


	3. Chapter 3

I be a college student now for a week now. I be a bobcat. Rawr.

Once they had a basic sketch of the guy, Grissom decided to see if the boys would be willing to give him a demonstration of alchemy. But first, he called Warrick to see how things were going at the crime scene.

"Well, there was a bag of corn in the freezer with blood on it. I collected a sample and I'm going to bring it in when I'm done here. There were also some chains behind the bed that have someone's skin on them, but I didn't find any rope there. I found some handcuffs instead."

"Handcuffs?"

"Yep. Two pairs, both with skin and DNA left on them."

"That all?"

"Yep."

"All right, thanks."

Grissom hung up and got up to let the brothers into his office. "Okay, so what do you need for this?"

"Um… well, we need something to draw the circle with," Al said.

"And something to transmute," Ed finished.

"Okay. What do you want to do?"

Ed shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You could just give us something if you wanted, we could probably do it."

Grissom nodded. _Well, they aren't going for specifics, so there's definitely no way they could do some cheap trick to try and fool me…_ "Okay. I think I have something in here." He rummaged through his desk for a while before pulling out a broken wooden sculpture. There were several cracks in the wood, and it was split into three different parts. "Can you fix this?"

Ed picked up the pieces and silently fit them together before putting them down again and nodding. "Yeah, that's easy."

"Okay." Grissom handed Ed a piece of paper and a pencil. "Then go ahead."

He watched as Ed drew a circle on the paper, his interest growing when he saw that it was incredibly similar to the one found on the plywood in the apartment. Once Ed finished drawing, he placed his hands on the circle, and Grissom got one of the biggest surprises of his life.

A bright flash of light emitted from the paper and the sculpture, and Grissom watched in shock as it reassembled itself in front of his eyes. He looked at the brothers. They weren't touching it. This was happening on its own.

After a moment, the light faded, and there was the sculpture, back to its original state. Grissom took the object and looked very closely at it, trying to see where the breaks had been. Ed and Al just watched and waited for him to say something.

"It's fixed…" Grissom put the sculpture down and looked at the boys, his eyebrows raised. "That was amazing."

Al looked happy, but Ed seemed skeptical. "Why are you acting so surprised? It's just alchemy."

Grissom sighed and looked Ed straight in the eye. "Well, Edward, I have to say that I've never seen anyone use alchemy before. In fact, around here, alchemy has been labeled as a myth, and it's most commonly associated with magic."

"Well, it's not magic. It's a real science."

"I can see that now." Grissom took the sculpture in his hands once more and looked at it while he thought about what just happened. _If people heard about this…_ "Listen. This is incredible, but I think it would be best if you didn't show or tell anyone unless they're part of my team, okay?"

Al nodded, but Ed frowned. "Why not?"

"You heard what I just said, right? Alchemy is considered a kind of magic here, and if word gets out that you two can use it, then there will be a lot of people who want to meet you, and I doubt all of them would be nice."

"So they'd want to use alchemy for something selfish?"

Grissom nodded. "There's a good chance of that."

Ed looked over at his brother before nodding. "Okay."

Al coughed. Ed gave his brother a curious look, and it was then that Grissom realized that Ed didn't know what was wrong with his brother. They'd been busy with other things.

"So…" Ed began, glancing at Al out of the corner of his eye.

"It's nothing serious, brother."

Ed frowned, as if he didn't believe Al, but when Grissom gave a confirming nod, he seemed to be satisfied with that. For a while, at least. The next issue was whether it was okay for Al to be using so much energy. Grissom had the feeling Al would have won that argument if he hadn't intervened.

-----------------

Once Al was asleep, Grissom asked Ed to continue. Ed sighed and nodded, as if he were getting impatient. Grissom decided he'd make it quick. He didn't want _two_ irritated boys on his hands.

_A minute or so passed after the man left the room before Ed heard voices from outside the room. He recognized the man's voice, but the other voice wasn't familiar to him at first. Then he realized that it was the man who had kidnapped them._

"_I thought I told you to keep the door shut," the kidnapper said. He sounded mad._

"_Hey, I asked him to keep it open for a few minutes to let some cool air in," the other man replied. "If you had told me how to use the air conditioner, we wouldn't have had to open it."_

_It was quiet for a moment before the kidnapper spoke again. "Fine. I'll show you after I put these on the other kid." Ed heard footsteps approaching and braced himself._

"_Wait a minute, handcuffs? Isn't it bad enough that you're keeping him in there in the first place?"_

"_You got a problem with what I'm doing here? Maybe your ex-girlfriend will agree with you. Shall I call her?"_

_Silence._

"_I see. You always were a coward." The kidnapper finally entered the room and scrutinized Ed for a moment before walking up to the bed. He handcuffed Ed before untying the ropes. Once that was done, he brought Al into the room and had him sit next to his brother's head._

"_Okay, here are the rules you two are going to follow while you're here. One of you will be in this room at all times. I'll switch it when you ask me to, but other than that, if anything is removed without my permission, both of you will be punished. Whoever isn't in here may go anywhere they want in this apartment during the day, except the kitchen. At night, you can either sleep tied up in here or in my room with me. If I ask you to do something, you do it, or you will be punished. If I have to ask three times, then both of you will be punished. Got it?"_

_Al nodded, but Ed refused to acknowledge anything the man said. The kidnapper didn't seem to care, though, because he left the room without even bothering to make sure they understood._

_He came back a while later with some food and put it on the nightstand. Then he reached around to the back of Ed's head, his hand lingering there for a moment._

"_Be quiet, and I'll take this off all the time, got it?"_

_As soon as Ed could speak, he screamed as loudly as he could, but he stopped when the man hit him in the head with something hard. Once Ed had recovered, he saw a gun pointing at his face._

"_Okay, now let's go over this again. You don't do that again, and I won't hit you like that again. Or would you rather have me punish you both?"_

_Ed shook his head, blinking to get rid of the tears in his eyes. "No. I-I'll be quiet."_

"_Good. I'll be back in twenty minutes. You need to decide where to sleep," the man said, pointing at Al before leaving the room, slamming the door behind him._

"He hit you?"

Ed nodded. "A bunch of times, but that one was the worst."

"Where did he hit you?"

Ed slowly reached up to his right ear. "Here."

Grissom stood up and walked around to where Ed sat. "Can I see it?"

Ed nodded and held still as Grissom leaned over to get a closer look. Sure enough, beneath a bandage was a semi-healed rectangular wound behind Ed's ear.

"He must have hit you pretty hard, huh?"

Ed nodded. "It felt sharp, too."

"That would make sense. Otherwise it would just be a bruise."

Ed nodded. "That one guy cleaned it the next morning when that jerk wasn't in the apartment."

"I see. Where did Al end up sleeping that night?"

"With me. I didn't want him to be alone with that guy all night."

"Did either of you ever choose to spend the night with him?"

Ed shook his head. "No way. He was mean and creepy."

Grissom breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least the brothers weren't stupid enough to put themselves in the arms of a pedophile…

"But after three days he kept asking me to spend the night in his room. I kept saying I didn't want to, and he got mad. He grabbed me and Al and shoved us into that place in the couch. He said we couldn't come out until I agreed to stay in his room."

"And you stayed there until we found you?"

Ed nodded. "I think it was the night before you came. We woke up, heard shouting after a while, and a little while later we heard someone screaming. I think it was the nicer guy, because then that jerk kicked the wood and said something to us."

"What did he say to you?"

"He said he'd let us out later, and that he'd kill me if we made any noises."

"Just you?"

"I think he liked Al better then. He kept acting like he was comparing us all the time."

_Probably trying to decide who he'd enjoy raping more,_ Grissom thought. "How did he compare you?"

Ed shrugged. "It just felt like he was watching us all the time. He'd look at Al funny a bunch in the beginning, but then he suddenly changed his mind and paid a lot of attention to me."

"And that's when he started asking you to spend the night with you?"

Ed nodded. "He said something about me being first. I was just glad he didn't pick Al first, because Al might not have realized what would have happened if he spent the night with that guy."

"Do you know what would have happened?" Grissom asked.

"Something bad," Ed replied. "That was all I needed to know."

Grissom nodded. "I think you're right about that. You should be proud, Edward. You were very brave, and you kept him from doing something very bad to both of you."

Ed raised his eyes to look at Grissom. "You think so?"

Grissom smiled. "I know so."

Ed smiled back. It was a small smile, but Grissom could tell Ed was very pleased with himself. It was good to see that his spirit hadn't been broken.

"Is there anything else?"

Ed frowned. "I don't think so…"

"You sure?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. Oh, and you don't need to call me Edward all the time. Ed's fine, too." He paused for a moment. "Same with Al."

"Is that so? Okay then, Ed."

Ed flashed a small smile. "So… is there any chance of us getting home soon?"

Grissom sighed. "I'm sorry, Ed. I'm not sure when we'll be able to get you home."

"Oh. Okay…"

At that moment, there was a knock on Grissom's door, and Grissom waved for Greg to come in.

"What is it?"

"I have the DNA results," Greg answered. "Do you want them now or should I wait?" he asked, glancing over at Ed.

Grissom looked from Ed to Greg and thought about it for a moment. "Let's hear it."

Greg looked back at Ed. "What about-"

"He can hear it. Go ahead."

Greg nodded. "Okay. Both the blood on the bag of frozen corn and the blood from that circle match Edward Elric, and the DNA from the handcuffs matches both Elrics. The blood in the kitchen matches our vic, and the traces of…" Greg trailed off and glanced at Ed again.

"Who's it from?" Grissom asked, knowing what Greg was going to say and feeling grateful that Greg had stopped when he did.

"It's unknown, but it matches the DNA we've found in other places, so I'd say it's from our culprit."

"Okay. Thanks."

"They found the murder weapon, too, one of the knives from the kitchen. It had traces of blood from the vic and the only fingerprints on it matched the ones found everywhere else in the apartment."

Then again, Greg didn't always know when to be careful about what he said…

"Wait, someone was killed?" Ed asked.

Greg really didn't know how to handle this question, so Grissom answered it for him. "I thought you knew already, but yes. That's the reason we were in that apartment in the first place."

"Who?"

"The one who was trying to be nice to you."

"Oh, so he… he _was_ the one we heard screaming…" Ed trailed off there and curled his hands into fists. "Was it because of us?"

"We can't say for sure, Ed, but you shouldn't feel bad about what happened," Grissom said. "Just because he was nicer to you doesn't mean he was helping you. If he really had cared he would have called the police, regardless of whatever he was being threatened with."

"But even so…"

"Ed. You and Al aren't the first victims of this man. Judging from the evidence we've found, he's kidnapped other children before you and done bad things to them as well. If the neighbors hadn't heard the screaming, we wouldn't have found you, and this guy would do what he wanted and move onto the next victim. But now we know what he's been doing, and we know what he looks like, so there's a very good chance we can find him and arrest him."

Ed was quiet after that. He wasn't happy, not by a long shot, but at least it seemed like he wouldn't blame himself for what happened.

A minute or so passed in silence before Greg spoke again. "Um, anyway… that's it."

"Okay. You can go now."

Greg turned around and headed for the door, leaving the office as quickly as he could and not stopping until he was out of Grissom's view. Once he was gone, Grissom turned back to Ed.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like that."

Ed shook his head. "No, it's fine. I've had enough of people trying to make the truth sound better than it is."

"What do you mean?"

Ed shrugged. "The military back home lies about a lot so that they look good, but it never works. The only way they'd look good is if they didn't exist."

The bitterness in Ed's voice was surprising, even to Grissom. He decided to change the topic to something that didn't involve the military. "Did you use alchemy while you were being held against your will?"

"Once, and that was to get Al's legs free so we could try and escape. That guy came in right then, though, so that was the only time. He was more careful after that."

"What about the circle that was drawn with your blood?"

Ed nodded. "That was me. I drew it just before we heard the shouting. We were going to try to get away, but then with all the noise…"

"You got scared."

Ed nodded. "And by the time I was ready to try it again, you guys got there."

"Why did you use blood?"

"I didn't have anything else. It was the only thing I could think of."

Grissom thought about the situation for a moment before standing up. "Well, I think it's time to let the others know about your alchemy. Unless you'd rather keep it a secret?"

Ed shrugged. "It doesn't matter much to me either way."

"Okay, then let's tell them."

"Do I need to transmute stuff again?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Okay."

--------------dash

To say that the other CSIs were surprised would be an understatement. All of a sudden, Ed found himself having to answer dozens of questions, and it took a while for everyone to calm down. Once everyone's basic questions had been answered, someone took Ed out of the room so that the CSIs would have a chance to come up with some sort of plan.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" Grissom asked.

"Well, you said it first. We can't let anyone know about this," Catherine answered. "There's no guarantee that these two will be treated normally if they're placed in someone else's hands with that kind of knowledge. Besides, if all of a sudden the world gains that kind of knowledge, then there's bound to be a negative effect on the economy."

"Anyone else have anything to add to that?"

"Yep," Greg answered. "If we tell other people about it, then there's going to be less of a chance of those two getting back to their own world anytime soon."

Everyone stared at Greg.

"You don't… actually think they're from another world, do you?"

"Why not? I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? To them, alchemy isn't something rare and fantastic, it's just something that some people know and some people don't. Just like anything else in the world. And then you add in the fact that they're from the early 1900s but their fashion sense could easily belong to this time period, not to mention the fact that they're from a country that doesn't exist on this world…"

"Greg, have you ever thought of the possibility that these two are being experimented on? There's no way they could be from another world," Nick interrupted.

"Half an hour ago, you would have said the same thing about alchemy," Greg shot back. "What's so different about this?"

Nobody seemed to want to argue against Greg, so a thoughtful silence fell upon the room. After a while, Grissom stood up. "So, I think we can all agree to keep alchemy a secret. Now, what do we do about the case?"

"Well, anything involving alchemy doesn't need to be used as evidence against our culprit," Greg answered. "And the circle Ed drew with his own blood can be explained as a desperate idea from a panicked child."

"True," Catherine agreed. "Now all we need to do is figure out what to do with the kids until this case is over."

"I'd say one of us needs to take care of them," Grissom said. "We're the only ones who know their secret, and they might not do well if we put them with someone else. Besides, until we catch this guy, there's a chance that they might not be safe with the usual possibilities." He looked expectantly at his team to see if anyone was going to disagree.

"Yep, I'd say that's the best plan," was the basic answer from everyone else. "But who's going to watch them?"

"I don't know. Any volunteers?" Grissom asked.

"Um…" Greg began.

"Other than Greg."

"Hey! I wasn't volunteering!" Greg snapped.

"Then what were you going to say?"

"I was going to suggest that you'd be a good candidate."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Greg shrugged. "Ed seems to like you best. Besides, they'd probably feel more at home with someone who can appreciate their abilities on the scientific level."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning out of all of us, you might be the only one who can understand what the hell they're saying."

"He's got a point, Gil," Catherine said. "You probably know more about science than the rest of us, at least when it comes to what they've been studying."

Grissom looked around, hoping someone else would volunteer, but they were all looking at him expectantly, as if it was already decided and he was supposed to be agreeing. "Okay then, if nobody else wants to, I'll do it," he finally said.

"You'll do great," someone commented as the group began exiting the room. Grissom had a feeling that it was a blatant lie…

--------------

The rest of the shift passed with no signs of the culprit, and Grissom wasn't very happy when he drove the brothers through Las Vegas to his home. Of course, it didn't help much that Al was still sick and that Ed couldn't hide the fact that he was still worried about his brother.

Once he got Al to go to bed, Grissom found himself sitting in the kitchen with Ed, who was still very much awake. The nine-year-old was poking at his food, with a look on his face that showed his dislike for the situation, and Grissom couldn't blame him. His best friend's parents had just been killed, and now he was stuck in some city he'd never heard of with someone who had no idea how to get him home, not to mention the fact that he had been the prisoner of a pedophile, and his only family was currently sick. If Grissom were in that situation, he'd probably be just as upset.

"I have a question," Ed muttered after a while.

Grissom started. Ed had been so quiet that he'd almost forgotten that the kid was in the room. "What is it?"

"Why do you have all those dead bugs in your office?"

"I study them."

Ed raised an eyebrow, an action Grissom didn't usually associate with nine-year-olds. "You do?"

"Yep."

Ed tilted his head slightly. "Why?"

"Well, why do you study alchemy?"

Ed was quiet for a moment. "I guess… we just started out reading books in our father's study, but then we found out that it made our mom happy…"

"Why are you still studying it?"

Ed hesitated. "W-we want to make life better for people."

The hesitation in Ed's voice made Grissom think there was more to it than what he said, but he didn't push it. Nothing about these kids made him think that they'd become criminals unless they were pushed to desperation, and even if they were planning something, there wouldn't be much he could do about it. There were no laws against alchemy in the US.

"So, what does the government in your country think about alchemy?"

"You mean the military? They use it all the time. They even have this test where if you pass, you become a State Alchemist. You work for them, and I've heard that you get a lot of research opportunities. And I think you get a rank."

"A rank?"

"Yeah, I think the rank is Major…"

"Major? That's pretty high up, isn't it?"

Ed nodded.

"Do you think you'll ever try to become one?"

"No. I hate the military. Besides, if there's a war… No, if things get really bad like they did…"

"Then the alchemists are sent to fight?"

Ed nodded. "I don't want to have to kill people."

"Not even to protect others?"

Ed snorted. "The military doesn't protect anyone. They never have." He looked up at Grissom. "I'm glad you're not like that."

Just then, they were interrupted by the sound of coughing, coming from where Al slept. Ed got up to check on his brother, coming back a minute later and sitting down without a word.

"Is he doing all right?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah. He's fine."

"I have another question for you."

"Okay."

"Are there things that you shouldn't use alchemy for?"

"Yeah, there's a few things that have been forbidden."

"Like what?"

"Using alchemy to make gold, for one thing, and human transmutation."

"Human transmutation?"

Ed nodded. "It's against the law to make a human being. People say it's impossible, too, but I don't think it is."

"You don't?"

Ed shook his head. "It would be really hard, though. You'd have to know just about every single detail, and then you'd have to come up with a formula to put everything together. And if you forget something…"

"There's a lot that you could forget," Grissom said.

"Yeah. That's probably why nobody's ever succeeded."

"I see." Grissom looked at the clock. It was a good time to get Ed to go to sleep, so he stood up. "Are you ready to go to bed?"

Ed shrugged. "I guess," he replied, suppressing a yawn.

"Okay, then I'll show you where you'll be sleeping for now."

Ed was asleep within minutes of lying down, and Grissom double-checked the locks to make sure everything was secure. He didn't think the kidnapper would be stupid enough to come after the brothers while they were staying with him, but he sure as hell wasn't going to be taking any chances…

--------------

Grissom ended up having to begin his shift before he even got to the station. There was another case nearby, and it just happened to be on the route he took to get to work. Normally, he wouldn't have a problem with that, but today, with the boys in the back of his car…

"Stay in here, okay?" Grissom said as he got out of the car. He asked a nearby officer, who was doing crowd control, to keep an eye on the two, and went to the crime scene, where Nick Stokes and Warrick were waiting.

"So, what do we have?" Grissom asked.

"Dead woman in her forties, bullet lodged in her brain, looks like she was dumped here," Warrick responded as he knelt down to take pictures.

"Is it really okay for you to be here?" Nick asked. "What about the Elric boys?"

"They're in the car. The officer on crowd control's keeping an eye on them."

"But what if-" Nick was cut off by the sounds of screaming from the nearby crowd, and all three CSIs went to see what was going on. The officer was kneeling down next to something on the ground, a dead, mangled cat from the looks of it, and one woman was standing next to it in shock, the front of her shirt splattered in blood.

"What the hell…?" Warrick began, looking at the cat while Nick went to calm the woman. Grissom, however, had something else on his mind.

His car was now empty, with both back doors wide open, and the Elric brothers were nowhere to be seen.

---------------

BLARGH I HATE HAVING A RUNNY NOSE.

Anyway, I know the action seems to be going rather fast, but you have to realize that this is still only part one.


	4. Chapter 4

I am being plagued by guilt over the death of the kitty. D:

-----------------

Greg didn't know what possessed him to walk to work, but he felt the need to walk through the streets of Las Vegas toward the station, and after a while, he realized just how good of an idea that had been.

This latest revelation came in the form of two small yellow-headed children nearly crashing into him. Greg was definitely shocked to see the Elric brothers on the streets, panting as they recovered from what seemed to be a long run.

"Whoa, what are you two doing?" Greg asked after a moment. "Weren't you with Grissom?"

"Yeah, but he stopped at a crime scene or something and that one guy told us to get out of the car," Ed replied. "He had a gun, too."

"And you ran?"

"I kicked the gun away first," Ed said. "But I don't know why we decided to run away. I guess we weren't really thinking…"

"Okay, okay, just let me call Grissom and tell him you're safe, okay?"

Ed nodded and helped his brother to a nearby bench as Greg called Grissom's cell phone. After a couple of rings, Grissom answered in a semi-panicked voice.

"Hey, it's Greg," Greg began. "I found the Elrics…"

"Where are you?"

Greg looked for a street sign and read the name to Grissom. "I'm a few blocks from the station. They're fine, Ed said the kidnapper tried to threaten them, but they managed to get away and didn't think to run to where you were."

"Oh, okay. Start heading to the station with them, and keep an eye out for our culprit. I'm going to call Brass and have him meet you. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Greg hung up and turned to the boys. "Okay, we're going to go to the station now, so uh… Yeah, just come with me."

The boys nodded and followed Greg down the street. They had gone a block when Ed suddenly stopped and ran down an alley. Greg swore when he saw Ed disappear around a corner, Al close behind, calling frantically for his brother to stop running. Greg followed, not wanting to lose track of the boys, and when he turned the corner, he suddenly stopped, or rather, he suddenly ran into both boys, and they fell into a heap on the ground.

Once he managed to get himself to his feet, Greg immediately noticed that something was wrong. The alley he had turned into wasn't an alley at all. Instead, it resembled a hallway with wooden floors. The two boys stood up slowly, and after a moment, their faces lit up with excitement.

"We're home!" Ed shouted as he ran down the hallway and turned a corner. Al followed at a slower pace, gesturing for Greg to follow as well.

They turned the corner and came to the front door, where Ed stood, looking out at what appeared to be a vast meadow.

"What the hell…?" Greg muttered as he stepped outside into the sunlight. Indeed, he was definitely looking out at vast fields, and in the distance, he saw a train station.

"We're home," Ed repeated quietly. "This is Resembool."

"Is it really?" Greg asked as he followed the brothers down a dirt road.

"Yeah. That building we just came out of is our house."

Greg blinked. "But wait, how did we get here?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't think it's something we'll ever be able to explain." (IT'S CALLED A PLOTHOLE LOLZ)

Al nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I bet that one guy knows, but we might not be able to ask him…"

"Oh well," Ed said. "We're back."

"Hey, wait a minute," Greg said. "Where are you going?"

"To the Rockbell house," Ed replied. "That's where Granny Pinako and Winry live."

"Oh, Pinako's your guardian, right?" Greg asked.

"Yeah." Al stopped and looked right into Greg's eyes. "She'll probably want to thank you, although you weren't the only one to help us."

"Okay…"

Greg followed the boys down the road to a larger house, trying to contain his excitement about the fact that he was in another world. Not only that, but if Grissom could see that he'd been, for the most part, right about where Ed and Al were from, he'd probably flip. Now, if only he had some way to prove it…

They continued walking, and Greg could see a young girl sitting on the steps in front of the house, her head in her hands. She looked thoroughly depressed. Ed ran up to her with a huge smile on his face.

"Winry!"

Winry looked up at the sound of her name, and stared in shock at the approaching group. Then she seemed to come to her senses, and tears sprung to her eyes as she stood up and ran a few steps forward. Ed nearly knocked her over with his hug, but he broke away after a minute.

"Wha… why are you crying?"

"I thought you were dead… When the military came to investigate they said you might never come back…"

Ed hugged Winry again. "It's okay. We're back now."

Al and Greg stood just behind Ed, and when Winry finally let go of Ed, she looked in confusion at Al.

"Um… I'd hug you, but I don't want to get you sick," Al explained apologetically. "Sorry…"

Greg heard a door open and immediately made efforts to get the ridiculous grin off of his face, but he couldn't help smiling when he saw an elderly woman standing in the doorway, a content smile on her face as well.

"Well now, this really is turning out to be a good day," she said as she came down the stairs. "Who's this young man?" she asked, pointing at Greg.

"Oh. I'm Greg Sanders. I work for the police department in Las Vegas," Greg replied.

"Las Vegas? Where's that?" Winry asked.

"Oh, um…" Ed began. "It's a city in this country that's really far away. We can't really say what country it's in, though."

_Nice,_ Greg thought.

"Why can't you?" Winry asked.

"Because it's a secret," Greg said in a secretive voice.

Pinako looked up at the sky and frowned. "It looks like we're in for some rain. Why don't you come inside?"

Greg followed the four into the building, which was surprisingly nice for the early 20th century. Pinako stopped in the entryway and looked at Al.

"Ed, Winry, why don't you take Al upstairs so he can get some rest? I'd like to talk to Mr. Sanders for a moment."

"Okay," Ed replied, and the three made their way upstairs as Pinako led Greg into the kitchen.

"So. You work for a foreign police department?"

Greg nodded. "I'm usually not out on the field, but through some bizarre circumstances, I ended up being the one to take the Elric brothers back here."

"What happened?"

Greg frowned. "They were kidnapped by a pedophile and taken to the city of Las Vegas. Then this guy murdered one of his friends, which is how the CSIs found the apartment where Ed and Al were being kept. Luckily, they found them before the culprit could do anything to them, other than some cuts and bruises."

Pinako frowned. "I see. Has this man been caught?"

"No, not yet, but I can assure you that he will be found."

"How did Al get sick?"

"Well, this guy wasn't what you could call clean."

"I see. Well, I have to thank you for bringing them back here. Those two are like brothers to Winry, and when they went missing so soon after the death of her parents…"

"It must have been hard," Greg finished. "I'm just glad we found them in time."

"You said there was a murder?" Pinako asked.

"Yeah. Apparently this guy's old roommate was staying at his apartment for a while, and he didn't like what was going on, but his so-called friend had something he was using for blackmail, so he didn't report anything to the police. And then I guess they had a pretty violent disagreement…"

"Did they see it happen?"

"No, ma'am. They heard screams, but they didn't see it."

There was thunder outside, and Greg flinched. He didn't know how much he wanted to go outside with this weather…

"Are you in a hurry to get back?" Pinako asked.

"Actually… I don't know. I didn't tell anyone when we headed out, so I probably should get going soon…"

Pinako looked out the window. "Well, I don't think now's the best time to leave. Why don't you wait a few hours? The storm will have let up by then."

Greg nodded. "I'll do that."

-----------------

"Hey, Ed, are these your parents?" Greg asked, pointing at one of the photos on the board.

Ed walked over and looked. "Yeah, that's them. It's the only one we ever took as a family."

"I bet you don't remember it being taken, huh?"

"Nope."

"Do you know why he's crying?"

Ed shrugged. "Probably because he didn't want to waste his time getting a picture taken."

The rain was still falling outside, and Greg was beginning to get nervous. Since it was such a small town, it didn't matter if the Elric home was empty and unlocked, but if he didn't get back soon, Grissom would probably get pretty upset with him…

"What about your family?" Ed asked.

"My family? Oh, it's pretty small. I'm an only child, and my parents are still around, but I don't see them a lot."

"Why not?"

"Oh, just because I'm busy working most of the time. I see them often enough."

Ed went back to looking at the photos on the wall. "I'm glad I don't see my dad anymore."

"You don't like him much, do you?"

Ed shook his head. "He's a bastard and I'll hit him if he ever shows up around here."

Greg stuck his hands in his pockets as he looked at all the different photos. Ed sure was beginning to look like his father… He blinked when he felt something hard in one of his pockets. He pulled out a disposable camera, one he had gotten a while ago and had subsequently forgotten about.

"What's that?" Ed asked.

"It's a camera," Greg replied, handing it to Ed so that he could get a closer look. "It's just a small disposable one for trips, so that you don't have to keep track of a normal camera."

"It doesn't look like much," Ed remarked as he handed it back to Greg.

"No, but they're very cheap, so if you lose it, you aren't losing much."

"What are the numbers for?"

"To tell you how many pictures you have left."

"Ah."

Greg looked at the camera for a moment before something clicked in his head. "Hey, Ed?"

"What?"

"Do you mind if I take some pictures? You know, so I have proof that you're actually back home and not in danger?"

"And so Mr. Grissom actually believes that this isn't your world?" Ed asked wryly.

Greg laughed. "Yeah, that too."

"Sure. We probably can't take any outside pictures, though…"

"No, I don't think so, but that's fine."

They spent the next hour or so taking pictures of what both Ed and Greg deemed to be proof of the existence of the Rockbell home, and by the time they had finished, Greg was satisfied with his work. He placed the camera back in his pocket and went into the kitchen to assist Pinako with lunch.

"It doesn't look like it'll be letting up anytime soon," Greg remarked.

"No, it doesn't," Pinako agreed. "Maybe you should just risk getting soaked then, eh?"

Greg laughed. "It doesn't look like I have much of a choice."

"Who knows? Maybe it'll let up after lunch."

"I hope so."

-------------------

After a while, Greg walked up the stairs to get the kids to come downstairs. He was about to go into Al's room when he heard the sounds of conversation from another room. He decided to listen for a while.

"Where were you?" Winry asked.

"I already told you, Winry. We were stuck with some crazy guy," Ed replied.

It was quiet for a while. Then, "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too."

Another moment or so of silence.

"You know, when I heard you calling my name and then saw you running up, I thought I was imagining it. Then, when I knew you were real, I kept expecting Mom and Dad…" Winry broke off, and Greg could hear crying.

"Winry…"

"Why couldn't they have come back, too?" Winry sobbed. "I miss them so much…"

"I know you do, Winry. I wish they could have come back too."

"It's not fair. Why did they have to die? They weren't even soldiers!" Winry was sobbing now, and Greg felt torn. Should he interrupt them or not?

Just then, Al came walking up to him, rubbing his eyes and looking at Greg in confusion.

"Oh, hey, Al," Greg said. "I was just coming up to get you guys for lunch."

"It's lunchtime?" Al asked, clearly disoriented.

"Yeah. Remember, we're back in your world now. It's a different time of day than it was back in Las Vegas."

"Oh, yeah."

"Why don't you head downstairs? I'll get Ed and Winry."

"Okay."

Al began walking away just as Ed and Winry came walking out of the room. They both paused when they saw Greg, but they continued down the hallway and down the stairs without a word. Greg noticed that Winry's face was tearstained, but he decided not to mention it. She was trying to be strong, and he wanted to respect that.

----------------

"Well, I think you're just going to have to put up with the rain," Pinako said as she looked out the window.

"Oh, that's fine," Greg replied.

"Wait a minute," Winry said. "Why are you two getting ready to go?"

Ed blinked. "We're going to our house."

"Why? You can stay here tonight…"

"We're coming back. There's just… something that Mr. Sanders forgot over there so we're going with him to get it."

Pinako shook her head. "If Al goes out in this weather, he's going to be sick for another month."

Ed and Al exchanged glances before Al gave a resigned sigh. "Okay, I'll stay here."

"Well then, I guess this is goodbye…" Greg said, feeling somewhat awkward that he was the tallest person in the room.

"Bye!" Al said. "Give our thanks to everyone, okay?"

Greg nodded. "Sure."

"From me, too," Winry added.

"I will."

Pinako smiled. "Come back and visit if you can. You'll be welcome here."

"Okay, if I get the chance."

Finally, Ed got tired of all the talking and opened the door. "Come on! It looks like it's letting up a bit!"

Greg followed Ed out into the rain, and they waved one last time as Pinako shut the door behind them. Then they sprinted down the road to the Elric home.

-----------------

"So… Any ideas on how to get back?" Greg asked as they entered the house and took off their soaking coats.

Ed shook his head. "Nope. You could try walking down the hallway again. That might work."

Greg shrugged. "Maybe."

They walked down the hallway and back again, but to no avail. Then they walked around upstairs, moving all around the house for about half an hour before Ed got frustrated.

"This is pointless!" he practically shouted. "How are you supposed to get back if there's no way to tell if we're doing the right thing?"

Greg sighed. "I have no idea, Ed. Let's take a break for a few minutes, okay?"

Ed nodded. "I have to pee anyway."

_Gee, thanks for sharing,_ Greg thought as Ed got up and headed to the bathroom. Then he got up and began wandering around again. He was halfway down one hallway when he tripped over his own feet and landed with a thud on the ground, hitting his head on the way. He lay in a daze for a while before managing to sit up, noticing something very odd when he did so.

"Greg!" came a shout from the end of the alley in which he now sat. Nick ran up to him and held out a hand, which Greg took gratefully.

"Hey," Greg said, noting that he still sounded pretty dazed.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"What about Ed and Al? Where are they?"

Greg smiled. "They're home."

Nick blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Wait a minute, why does it look like you were out in the rain?"

"Um… because I was?"

"Greg. It's sunny. The last cloud I've seen came floating by two days ago."

"I didn't say I was out in the rain around _here._ It was back where Ed and Al live."

Nick stared at Greg. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired from the trip."

"Um… right… Hey, I think we should get you back to the station. Everyone's worried about you."

Greg nodded. "Yeah, okay. Sorry about that."

"No, it's fine…"

They walked down the alley to Nick's car, and from there drove to the station. Greg relaxed in the car. He figured he'd need the energy to explain everything to the rest of the team.

---------------

END PART ONE!

Lolz I'm using the plothole monster again. I love that guy.

So yeah. The dead cat was just something the one dude (who shall remain nameless because I'm terrible at coming up with names; everyone in the story knows his name, but I don't, I'm probably making life difficult for myself, but I'm just that bad at coming up with names for OCs...) chucked into the crowd to create a distraction so that he could get Ed and Al without being seen. Yeah, sorry if that confused you at all...


	5. Chapter 5

I'm sleepy. And I used the 'official' line break thingies for once. Isn't that exciting?

Three years later

The minute Grissom entered the apartment, he was overwhelmed by a feeling of déjà vu. He blinked a few times as he approached the kitchen, trying to place where he'd seen a scene like this before. Brass was standing next to a pool of blood on the floor, and he nodded his greetings to Grissom.

"This seem familiar to you?" Grissom asked.

"Oh, yes, this puddle of blood is nearly identical to just about every other puddle of blood I've seen," Brass replied sarcastically. "Think they're connected?"

Grissom nearly laughed, but instead shook his head. "There's definitely some conspiracy going on, that's for sure. So, no body?"

"Nope. After the victim's dear sister called, I came, searched the premises, and found nothing that resembles a dead woman."

"Strange." Grissom paused. He had finally realized why this place seemed so familiar. "You remember that case about three years ago, there was a murder in the kitchen and two boys trapped in the back of the couch?"

"The Elric case? Of course. Who could forget about two boys who could not only destroy a table, but also turn it into something incredibly ugly?"

"I never really did understand Ed's sense of style," Grissom remarked as he walked out of the kitchen. "But did you ever visit the crime scene?"

"Nope. I was on a different case."

"Then that would explain why you don't recognize this place. It's almost an exact match of that apartment."

Brass raised an eyebrow as he followed Grissom out into the living room. There were two large stains on the carpet, one blood, and one that looked suspiciously like vomit. Grissom walked over to the couch, and sure enough, there was the square of plywood, in the exact same place as the one from last time.

"And now, to reveal a victim," Grissom said as he began to pull away the nails holding the plywood in place.

"You sound pretty confident," Brass remarked as he knelt on the left side of the wood.

"I am. I'm also confident that the culprit is the same as last time," Grissom said as he pulled away the last nail and pulled the wood back, revealing a cramped space that was identical to the one that had held Ed and Al, as well as a small boy with long blonde hair, who couldn't have been older than nine or ten. He was curled up into a ball, eyes shut, left hand under his head and right hand next to it. Blood matted his hair and covered the gloves on his hands. He was wearing white gloves and a long-sleeved shirt, with the right sleeve torn off until halfway up his forearm. The arm seemed to be covered in metal, something that intrigued Grissom very much. The boy was also wearing black leather pants, a strange choice for a ten-year-old.

Grissom's first move was to check the boy's pulse. When he put his fingers up to the boy's neck, the boy's eyes flickered open, and when Grissom saw what was behind those eyelids, he got his next wave of déjà vu.

"Ed?"

THIS IS WHERE THE OPENING CREDITS WOULD GO IF THIS WERE A REAL EPISODE OF CSI!

Ed looked blankly up at the two CSIs in front of him for a moment, confusion evident on his face. After a moment, he tried pushing himself up, but the minute he put pressure on his left hand, he fell back to the ground with a hiss of pain.

"Damn it…" Grissom heard Ed mutter weakly as the small alchemist gripped his left hand with his right. Grissom noted that the hand was wrapped with what could only be the torn sleeve.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Grissom asked, gently pulling Ed out of the space and laying him on his back. There was a huge gash on the boy's forehead, under the hair that was too short to be pulled into the braid that fell against Ed's back.

"It's broken," Ed muttered.

Brass stood up and called for medical assistance, as the hand and forehead couldn't be the only places Ed had been injured. Grissom tried to make the boy comfortable, but Ed ignored his efforts and instead tried to sit up.

"Ed, you need to stay still. You're just going to make this worse if you keep moving around."

Ed ignored that comment and got himself into a sitting position. "I know, but… there's s-something you need to see," Ed said, his voice trembling as he spoke.

"Where is it? We can find it ourselves," Grissom said, trying to get Ed to lie down again.

"No. It's hidden. H-he made me use alchemy, so I have to be the one to show you."

"Is it important?" Grissom asked, noting that Ed didn't seem to want to let this go.

"Yeah. It is."

Grissom sighed and helped Ed to his feet. "Okay, then show us."

Ed slowly made his way through the living room, avoiding the stains in the carpet, to one of the bedrooms, the one, Grissom noted, that was in the same place as the one Ed had been kept in last time. Grissom looked around the room. It was the same style as the last one, except for one thing. The wall where the closet had been was just a plain wall.

Ed walked straight up to that wall and put his right hand against it, as if to steady himself, before looking back at Grissom and Brass.

"Okay, Ed. What is it?"

Ed brought his hands together and placed his right hand on the wall. Grissom and Brass both started when a bright light emitted from the wall, and it soon dissolved into the other walls. Behind it was a closet. Ed dropped his hand and turned to face the two.

"In there." Ed swayed a bit where he stood, causing Grissom to grab him by the arm to keep him from falling to the floor. Ed kept his eyes on the ground as Brass opened the doors.

"I'm sorry," Ed muttered. "I wanted to help her, but…"

Brass knelt down next to the body of a half-naked woman just as Ed passed out. Grissom managed to catch the small boy and set him down as Brass placed a finger on the woman's neck.

"She's still alive," Brass said.

Grissom looked over at the door, where he heard voices coming from the hall. "Sounds like medical help's here. I'll tell them to come in here first." He got up and waved the paramedics into the bedroom as Brass pulled the woman out of the closet. They began stabilizing her, and one stopped next to Ed.

"How long has he been unconscious?" the man asked.

"A minute at most," Grissom answered.

The paramedic gently pulled Ed's left arm out of his sleeve, revealing another gash on Ed's shoulder, along with several bruises. He then pulled the other sleeve off, which revealed something more disturbing than any injuries Grissom had seen so far.

"Interesting prosthetic," the paramedic remarked, pulling the outer jacket off completely and handing it to Grissom, who set it aside in case it held any evidence. Not that he'd need it if it was the same guy…

Once the wounds on Ed's head and arm were taken care of, the paramedic checked Ed's chest, pulling off the black sleeveless shirt and handing that to Grissom as well. The skin was black and purple, and Grissom could tell that at least one of Ed's ribs had been fractured.

"How did he lose consciousness?" the paramedic asked.

"I'd say he fainted," Grissom replied.

"I'd agree with that. He's in bad shape, but he hasn't been critically injured. I'll call another ambulance for him."

Grissom nodded and looked back at the arm as the other paramedics took the woman out. He pulled out his camera and began taking pictures of the bloodstains on it as the last paramedic slowly unwrapped Ed's left hand, giving the fabric to Brass once it was off.

"There's fingerprints," Grissom muttered. "And there's more than just blood here…"

He took samples of the mystery substance, although he had a pretty good idea of what it was. Then he helped get Ed out of the apartment and downstairs. Once Ed was in the back of an ambulance and on his way to the hospital, Grissom went back upstairs to wrap things up.

-----------------

"Why him?"

Grissom stopped in the middle of collecting evidence to look over at Brass. "Why Ed?"

"There are too many coincidences here. Why would our culprit move into an apartment with the same setup as his old place, create the same space in the back of a couch in the same place, and shove the same boy in there before attempting murder in the same place as last time?"

"I'd say he was trying to recreate the same environment, and that woman just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," Grissom replied.

"But why would he only have one of the brothers?"

"You know, I'd say that's a question for Ed."

Brass frowned. "That's not the only question I want to ask him."

"Yeah, when a kid loses an arm and leg between the ages of nine and twelve, most people tend to get curious," Grissom remarked as they walked out of the apartment.

"Not only that, but those prosthetics shouldn't exist."

"Way too advanced for even this time period, right? Just like alchemy's too mythical to be considered a real science."

"You know my theory? Someone's messing with us."

Grissom rolled his eyes. "Yep, an eighteen-year-old girl who lives in the middle of nowhere and spends way too much time on her computer developed a complex plot that involves futuristic and fantastic technology. It really puts everything into perspective, doesn't it?" (well, this seems familiar…)

"I bet she's obsessed with her dog, too," Brass added as they walked outside. (O SHI-) "You going to the hospital now?"

"Yes." Grissom waved and got into his car, pulling out his cell phone and dialing Catherine's number.

"What's up?" Catherine asked once she answered her phone.

"Guess who I just found trapped in the back of a couch," Grissom said.

"Ed and Al?"

"Just Ed."

"Is he okay?"

"He's obviously been mistaken for a punching bag, but he'll be fine. There's just something you should know."

Catherine hesitated at these last words. "What happened?"

"He's missing his right arm and left leg."

"Oh my god…"

Grissom sighed. "Yeah. I'm on my way to the hospital now to pick him up. You might want to let everyone know. I'm sure a heads-up would be appreciated before I bring Ed over."

"I'm on it. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Brass is heading over there with the evidence, so make sure Greg isn't too busy destroying his hearing to take care of it."

"Got it." With that, Catherine hung up, and Grissom placed his phone in his pocket and pulled out into the street.

---------------

As he walked through the hospital, Grissom went over what he had seen. It was obvious that Ed's injuries had been inflicted by the culprit, but what about his arm and leg? There was a good possibility that he'd lost them because of that man, but he soon dismissed that idea. The prosthetics Ed had were much too expensive for a man like that to afford, and the installation process and therapy, judging by the way Ed moved so easily, must have taken a long time. And then there was always Greg…

"_Seriously, I was there. I can prove it, too."_

_Grissom sighed. Greg had been following him around for an hour, trying to get him to believe that Greg had in fact gone to Amestris, and thus had a valid reason for disappearing at such an inconvenient time. Grissom's main thoughts were that the culprit had done something to the lab rat's brain._

"_Oh, and I have proof," Greg said, reaching into his pocket._

"_Proof?"_

"_Yeah." Greg waved a cheap disposable camera in Grissom's face. "There's pictures on here."_

"_Of what?"_

"_Of the Rockbell house. What else?"_

_Grissom shook his head. "I don't know, Greg. I really don't know."_

"_Come on, I swear it's the real thing," Greg said. "Will you at least look at the developed pictures?"_

_Grissom sighed. Greg wasn't ever going to give this up. "Okay, I'll look at them."_

"_You will?"_

_Grissom nodded. "Yes." _If it'll get you to shut up,_ Grissom thought._

Grissom stopped at a desk to ask about the woman, whose name was Jane Lindy. She was most likely out of surgery by now, and he just wanted to be sure she'd survive. The nurse took a minute to get him an answer, but when she had it, she was smiling. "She's stable, and no longer in critical condition."

"Thank you," Grissom said as he continued down the hall. Sara was going to stop by to get a rape kit, which meant he had plenty of time to check up on the younger victim…

"_Okay, here."_

_Grissom looked up in surprise when he saw the photos drop onto his desk. Greg was standing in what seemed to be a defensive stance, waiting for Grissom to look at the pictures._

_Grissom picked up the pile and looked with interest at the first one. "And how exactly is a picture of some woman holding a giant teddy bear supposed to prove anything to me?"_

_Greg snatched the pictures out of Grissom's hand. "Those are pictures I took before all this happened." He took the top four or five off of the pile and handed the rest back to Grissom. "_These_ are the ones from Resembool."_

_Grissom looked through the pictures, noting the girl and old woman who stood with Ed in some of the pictures and the apparent lack of technology. Some of the pictures contained strange mechanical limbs, which Greg said were called automail, and a few were pictures of other photographs. One of them contained the Elrics as infants, and Grissom looked at that one with interest. Ed certainly took after his father, and Al definitely had his mother's eyes…_

"_So?"_

_Grissom put the photos down and looked back up at Greg. "Okay, you win. I'll believe you when you say that you got the Elric brothers home safely."_

"_And…?"_

"_And that's it."_

_Greg looked back at the photos and picked them up. "Thanks."_

Yep, those pictures had been pretty convincing, even if they lacked any views of the outdoors, and thus did not prove that Ed and Al lived in the countryside.

Grissom finally made his way to the nearly deserted children's ward that Ed was currently staying in and opened the door. Ed was one of two patients in the room, the other being a boy who seemed to be in a coma. Ed's eyes were closed, and the nurse that was doing stuff looked up when Grissom approached the bed.

"You're taking him into your custody, right?" she asked.

"Yes."

"He's already woken up, but he fell asleep before we could talk to him. Here's a report of all his injuries," she said, handing him a folder before leaving the room. She stopped and turned back at the door. "Oh, and those are some pretty impressive prosthetics." Grissom nodded to the woman and began looking through the file, sitting in a chair next to Ed's bed.

_Two fractured and several bruised ribs, concussion, sprained ankle, they put four stitches on the gash on his head and three on his arm, multiple fractures in his hand, several cuts on his face, and bruises all over his upper body. Traces of _zolpidem tartrate_ in his system, no signs of sexual abuse._ Grissom looked up from the report when he saw a flicker of movement on the bed. He closed the folder and looked up at Ed's face. Ed's eyes were still closed, but he seemed to be waking up.

Grissom waited a minute, and sure enough, Ed opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning his head to face Grissom.

"What's going on?" Ed asked. He sounded terrible.

"You're in the hospital," Grissom answered. "Do you remember what happened last?"

"I was showing you where that woman was hidden…"

Grissom nodded. "That's right. Did you just wear yourself out?"

"I think so."

"Your alchemy's improved."

Ed nodded. "Yeah…"

Grissom pulled his camera out of his bag. "I need to take pictures of your injuries for evidence, okay?"

Ed nodded. "That's fine." He turned his head away when Grissom began, evidently trying to avoid eye contact at all costs.

"Is this bothering you?" Grissom finally asked.

"No."

"You sure?"

Ed nodded. Grissom looked at Ed's eyes. The spark of life that had always caught Grissom's attention had dimmed. Ed seemed to be thinking about something else.

"Where's Alphonse?"

"He's probably in East City right now. That's where he was the last time I saw him."

"East City? Where's that?"

"It's the major city in the eastern part of Amestris. It's also where Eastern Headquarters is located."

"Is that part of the military?"

Ed nodded.

"How's he doing?"

Ed cringed slightly, and Grissom noticed. "He's… fine, I guess. He's changed a lot, though."

Grissom looked at Ed's arm as he put his camera away. "So have you."

Ed looked at the arm and curled the metal fingers into a fist. "I know."

"What happened?"

Ed squeezed his eyes shut. "I did something stupid."

Grissom decided to let it be for now. If it had to do with the case, Ed would tell him what had happened, and if it didn't, then it was none of his business. Right now, though, Grissom needed to know what had happened to Ed and Jane.

"Ed, I need you to tell me what happened back there."

Ed opened his eyes and looked inquisitively at Grissom for a moment. "With that woman?"

"That, and anything else that you can remember. Can you do that?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah."

------------------

_Two days had passed since Ed had woken up in the kidnapper's apartment when Ed finally agreed to sleep in the man's room with him. He could deal with the cramped space in the couch easily enough, but the lack of food and the injuries that came every time Ed refused were getting to be a bit much, not to mention the smell of urine that made him want to gag. He was lying on the edge of the bed, his eyes closed, when the man turned off the light and got in beside him. Ed tried to stay awake, not wanting to be unable to fight back if the bastard tried to do something to him._

_He was barely awake when he felt a hand on his back, followed by one on his arm. Ed yanked his arm away, only to have it grabbed and pulled back. Ed kicked out at the man with his automail leg and somehow managed to get off of the bed and onto the floor. From there, he got up and headed straight for the door, but the man slammed it shut on Ed's hand. Ed screamed and collapsed on the floor._

"_You stupid whore! Never try that again!" the man shouted, kicking Ed in the stomach a few times before pulling him up by his braid and dragging him into the bathroom. Ed tried to get away, but the man had a good grip. He dropped Ed to the floor and reached into the medical cabinet, pulling something out and dragging Ed to his feet again. Ed tried to push the man away with his right hand, but the man easily held it back and shoved Ed against the wall._

"_Let go of m-" Ed's shout was interrupted by a hand that covered his mouth. The man then grabbed Ed's nose, forcing Ed to breathe through his mouth. Then the man shoved some pills into Ed's mouth and held a knife against his throat._

"_Swallow."_

_Ed did as he was told, and he soon found himself drifting out of consciousness._

"I woke up in that space the next morning," Ed continued. "And the next night was pretty much the same thing. That woman didn't come until the morning after that."

"So that's how your hand was broken."

Ed nodded. "And my ribs."

Grissom was about to ask Ed to continue when the doctor came in. He stopped next to Grissom.

"I'm Dr. Lowry. Gilbert Grissom, I presume?"

Grissom nodded. "That's me."

Dr. Lowry handed Grissom some papers and a pen. "You need to sign these so that we can release Edward into your custody."

"Does that mean I don't have to be here anymore?" Ed asked hopefully.

"Well, that's what I'm going to be checking right now," Dr. Lowry replied with a friendly smile. Grissom read through the papers and signed them and such while Dr. Lowry did a final check-up on Ed. Once Lowry was finished, he took the papers from Grissom.

"Well, everything checks out," Lowry said. "Let me just check up on the other patient in this ward and you can be on your way."

Grissom nodded and pulled a bundle out of his bag as the doctor walked away. "I have some clothes for you, Ed. Yours are at the lab."

Ed took the bundle and looked quizzically at Grissom. "Will I get them back?"

"You want them back?"

"I have something important in my pants pocket," Ed muttered. "I can't really afford to lose it."

"Yeah, we can get all that back to you soon," Grissom said reassuringly. "Do you need help getting dressed?"

Ed shook his head. "No." He slowly got up and walked over to the bathroom, using the wall as support and closing the door behind him. Grissom watched the door for a moment before approaching Dr. Lowry.

"What happened to this kid?" Grissom asked.

"His parents brought him in earlier today. Apparently he was abducted and physically and sexually abused. We're keeping him unconscious because otherwise he'd be in too much pain."

"Really? What's his name?"

"Jamie Tulsan."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. There had been a missing persons report about a Jamie Tulsan the previous week, but he hadn't heard about the kid being found…

"His parents called the police after they brought him here, and a woman named Sara Sidle came in," the doctor continued.

"Sara did?"

"Yes, sir."

Grissom looked at the unconscious boy. In a way, he resembled Ed… "What's his eye color?"

"Light brown."

Grissom frowned. He'd have to talk to Sara about this later, and he definitely would not mention this to Ed.

-----------------

Ed was silent as Grissom drove through the busy streets of Las Vegas. He seemed incredibly interested in his right sleeve, because he kept looking at it and playing with it.

"I got you a long-sleeved shirt in case you didn't want people to look at your arm," Grissom said. "Does that work?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't really care."

"It doesn't bother you at all?"

"No, I don't have a problem with it," Ed said as he leaned against the door, looking out the window. "It just bugs me that everyone who sees it automatically assumes I need to be pitied like a stray cat in the rain. I mean, I can still stand on my own feet. Well," Ed looked down at his right ankle. "Not right now, but you get the idea."

Grissom parked the car and helped Ed get out. "A stray cat, huh? I don't think I've heard that comparison too often."

Ed grunted. "Al's gotten obsessed with the idea of picking up stray cats and taking care of them even though we can't. Half the scratches on my arm are from a litter of kittens I found hiding under his hotel bed."

"Why were you staying at a hotel?" Grissom asked.

Ed shrugged. "We haven't really been staying in one place for long anymore. There's something we're looking for, so we've been traveling a lot."

"So that's why you can't have any pets."

Ed nodded. "And Al knows that, but he still tries…"

"Yeah, that really sounds like something he'd do," Grissom said as they entered the station. He led Ed into an interrogation room and told him to wait as he went elsewhere.

------------

Oh, and if you want to see something amusing, go to youtube and search "evil ducks taking over world run away" and a video by junodog20 (me) should pop up. It's about ducks and their taking over the world, meaning I went to the nearby duck pond and filmed the absurdities of said pond and dumped the clips in iMovie and added some music. The white balance was off, too, so the lighting's really weird.

Don't you hate it that they don't let you post links on here? (sigh)


	6. Chapter 6

Once Sara returned from the hospital, she immediately went to the lab to drop everything off before going to find Grissom. The lead CSI had left a message for her to find him as soon as she got back, and she found him in an interrogation room with a small boy with long blonde hair. She assumed this was Ed, because she hadn't been around the last time Ed had been here. She knocked on the door and entered the room.

"I'm back," she said.

Grissom looked up at her and nodded. "I'll be done here in a few minutes."

"Right. I'll be outside." She left the room and watched the conversation from the hallway. After a moment, Brass joined her, and they listened quietly to Ed's story.

"When he let me out that morning, he looked upset about something," Ed said. "He left me alone for about an hour, and then…" Ed paused for a moment before continuing. "All of a sudden he just snapped. He grabbed me and pushed me against the table."

"He doesn't seem too upset," Brass remarked.

"Probably because whatever happened wasn't as bad as losing an arm and a leg," Sara replied. "To him, at least."

"What did you do then?" Grissom asked, unaware of the conversation that was taking place in the hallway.

"Nothing. I could barely move, and at that point, I was about ready to give up."

"Do I detect a bit of self-loathing there?" Sara asked, more to herself than to Brass.

"Maybe it is," Brass agreed.

"Anyway," Ed continued. "He just held me there for a minute. I heard something, I think it was a zipper…"

"Oh, god," Sara breathed.

"…and then I heard the door slam open."

"Could you see who was at the door?" Grissom asked.

Ed shook his head. "No, but I heard that woman's voice. She was yelling at him when she opened the door, and then she just… stopped. Then that bastard-"

"Well, his vocabulary's gotten more mature," Brass remarked.

"-pushed me really hard off the table. My head and arm hit the chairs, and then I was on the floor. I heard the door slam again, and then… she was screaming…"

"She was raped," Sara completed.

"It's funny how he sounds more upset when he isn't talking about himself," Brass remarked.

"Did you see what was happening?" Grissom asked.

"No. I was still on the floor, and I think that man had taken her into the kitchen. After a while, she stopped screaming, but I could still hear her sobbing…" Ed stopped for a minute. "It was like that for a few minutes, and then that guy came back out to the living room."

"What did he do?" Grissom asked.

"He pulled me up and told me… told me to help him move the body. And then he told me to transmute a fake wall… I got sick after that, and a while later he forced me back into that space. I spaced out for a while, and then you came…"

"And you're positive it's the same guy as last time?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah. He looked the same, acted the same… he even smelled the same."

"And what a smell it was," Brass commented.

"Is there anything else I should know about?" Grissom asked.

"I don't know."

Grissom waited for a moment before standing up. "Okay, well if you think of anything else, tell me, got it?"

Ed nodded.

"Wait here. I'm going to talk to someone."

"Okay."

Grissom stood up and walked out of the room, pausing only for a second when he saw Sara and Brass standing in the hallway. However, like the incredibly badass wonderful smart guy he is, he had no reaction other than to gesture to Sara. "I heard you stopped by to see Jamie Tulsan today."

"Yeah. They brought Ed in when I was there. You don't think he was kidnapped by the same guy, do you?"

"Did you collect DNA samples?"

Sara nodded. "They're at the lab."

"Then we'll know soon enough. What all happened to him?"

"Oh, judging from his injuries, he was beaten, forced into a cramped space for several days, and then raped in just about every way imaginable. His parents said he was conscious when they found him outside their front door, and he screamed when his father tried to touch him. On a related note, his father resembles the description of the culprit in your case."

"What about Lindy?"

"She'll be fine. She wasn't conscious when I saw her, but there's no doubt that she'll live, and as far as they can tell, there won't be any long-term physical damage. They can't say anything about mental damage until she's conscious, though."

Grissom frowned. Whoever this culprit was, he was definitely beginning to piss the CSI off. He looked back through the glass at Ed, who was running his metal fingers through his hair.

Sara watched the boy with interest. Ed seemed to have a problem with his hair, and she thought she knew what it was.

"Did he have it in a ponytail when you found him?" she asked.

"No, braided. Why?"

"Maybe you should give him a hair tie," Sara remarked as she walked off.

-------------

Grissom watched in confusion as Sara walked off. It didn't take him long to figure out why she had said what she did, and he decided he'd give Ed a piece of string later. The poor kid would probably injure himself with an elastic hair tie.

"You know, something's been bothering me," Brass remarked. "Why does he feel the need to explain why he didn't do anything to help Ms. Lindy? It seemed pretty obvious why he couldn't."

Grissom shrugged. "He's always been an odd one. Maybe he's trying to get rid of the guilt he's feeling."

"The kid was kidnapped, beaten, drugged, and barely avoided getting raped, and he thinks it's _his_ fault?"

"I'd say he's frustrated because he felt so helpless. You didn't deal with him at all last time, but he's not the kind of person who can just let bad things happen. He'll probably get over it when I tell him she's alive."

Brass looked back at the small boy in the interrogation room. "Did he tell you what happened to his limbs?"

"He said he did something stupid," Grissom replied. "That's it."

"Oh. More guilt." Brass folded his arms. "You know, it's kids like him that make our job easy. If only the rest of the world spewed information like a fountain."

"But then life would be boring. I'm going to check with Greg, see if we have results on any of the samples," Grissom said. "Do you have any objections to babysitting for a while?"

"I'll be stuck with him no matter what I say, right?" Brass asked. "Fine, I'll do it."

And with that, Grissom skipped happily toward the lab. (just to give ya'll that mental image)

--------------

Greg was finishing up just as Grissom entered the lab, and he turned around with an unnecessary dramatic flourish as he turned off his music. "Perfect timing. I just got the results."

"And?"

"The blood on Ed's arm matches Jane Lindy. Lindy was definitely raped by our kidnapper, because his semen was found both on Lindy and on Ed's arm. Not only that, but it was on someone else."

"Jamie Tulsan," Grissom finished. "Anything else?"

"Yep, the blood on the living room floor is Ed's, along with the vomit. Also, Jamie Tulsan's clothes are not only covered in blood, but there's some of his urine, and our culprit's bloody fingerprints."

"So Tulsan is another victim," Grissom stated.

"Yep. How's Ed doing?"

"He's fine. I get the feeling he doesn't know what exactly this guy is, though."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "If he hasn't figured it out by now, then that's one naïve kid right there."

"And I'm probably going to have to explain it to him."

Greg winced. "Ouch. Have fun with that."

Grissom rolled his eyes and decided to change the subject. "Have you looked at his clothes yet?"

"I glanced at 'em. There's blood on them, probably Lindy's or his own. Or both. You know, this would probably be the easiest case to solve if the suspect didn't keep running off."

"Sadly, there's not much of a chance of him turning himself in," Grissom replied as he headed to the door. "He probably knows we'd give him hell if he ever showed his face around here."

Ed was asleep when Grissom decided to go back to the crime scene. Ed had mentioned the smell of urine in the couch, and if Tulsan's DNA was there, then Grissom could know for sure that Ed and Al weren't the only children who had been trapped in that godforsaken apartment.

---------------

After several hours out on the field, Catherine was very happy when it was time for her break, but not for the usual reasons. Ever since she'd heard that Ed had been found, she'd felt the need to see how he was doing. Something told her Ed needed a lot of help at the moment, and not just physically.

She quietly entered the room in which he was sleeping, closing the door behind her and not making a sound as she approached the sleeping preteen. He was definitely small, she noted. He couldn't have grown more than three or four inches since she'd last seen him, and he wasn't that tall to begin with…

Ed was lying on his right side, his face buried in his pillow. He had apparently kicked the blankets off in his sleep, revealing his small, injured body. The pants he was wearing seemed to be too long for him, as his feet were barely sticking out from underneath the fabric. Of course, the shirt was too big as well, which only served to emphasize Ed's small size. In fact, if it weren't for his heavy arm and leg, Ed would probably never get to sit in the front seat of a car. Not that he'd be riding in many cars anyway…

Ed shifted slightly in his sleep, letting out a quiet whimper. His body tensed slightly for a moment before relaxing again. A few seconds later, he tensed again, this time in a way that Catherine recognized. Interestingly enough, most kids acted the same when they were having a nightmare.

Catherine watched for a moment, debating whether he'd appreciate being woken up and embarrassed. She was about to let him be when she heard another noise, this time one that was easier to recognize. She turned back to Ed and leaned down so that she could hear what he was saying.

"I'm sorry…"

Catherine blinked. For a moment she thought he had woken up and was apologizing to her, but that didn't make sense…

"Mom… Al… I'm so sorry…"

No, Ed was still asleep. Catherine waited for a while to see if she could find out why Ed was apologizing, but he simply continued to apologize, his voice getting more and more high-strung as the dream continued.

Catherine leaned over and gently shook Ed by the lower arm, calling his name in an attempt to wake him up. It took a moment, but finally Ed's eyes snapped open, and he struggled to catch his breath for a while before noticing Catherine.

"Bad dream?" Catherine asked. Ed nodded, blinking a few times before slowly sitting up.

"You could tell?" he asked sheepishly as he crossed his legs.

"You were talking in your sleep, Ed."

Ed sharply lifted his eyes to face Catherine, his face full of dread. "What did I say?" he asked nervously.

"You were apologizing to Al. Your mother, too."

"That's it?"

Catherine nodded. "That's it."

Ed seemed to relax after that. He seemed to be fine now, if only a little shaken up. Catherine was about to leave and let him be when she realized something.

"Ed," she began. "Your mother died almost eight years ago, right?"

Ed winced at this, but he recovered brilliantly and nodded, keeping his face serious but unreadable. The only way Catherine could tell the subject bothered him was because of his eyes.

"Then why were you apologizing to her? It's not your fault that she died."

"I know. It's just…" Ed shook his head and turned to look elsewhere, refusing to look at Catherine at all.

"What is it?"

Ed shook his head again. "I don't really know anymore. Forget I said anything."

"Ed-" Catherine began, but she was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone, which she promptly answered. "Willows."

"Hey, this is Grissom. We just got a call from the hospital. Jane Lindy just regained consciousness, and she's agreed to talk to the police. Can you go over?"

"Yeah, no problem," Catherine replied. "I'll head over now." When she hung up, she turned back to Ed, who was absent-mindedly studying his right hand. "I have some good news for you, Ed. You know that woman who was attacked?"

Ed nodded.

"Well, she's alive, and she's going to recover. I'm actually going to go talk to her now."

Catherine smiled when she saw the relieved look on Ed's face. She pulled out an extra hair tie from her pocket and handed it to Ed. "Here's something for your hair if you want it. I'll see you later, okay?"

Ed took the hair tie and nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

"It's no problem. I have a daughter who's close to your age, so I have plenty of extras. See you." And with that, Catherine left to go to the hospital.

--------------

Jane Lindy was a very beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties, but at the moment she looked as if she'd seen better days. Having become familiar with the results of rape, Catherine could understand why Jane looked so terrible, but strangely enough, she seemed to be doing better than most of the rape victims Catherine had seen. She was lying on her hospital bed, her eyes open and quietly observing Catherine as she entered the small private room.

"Jane?" Catherine began gently as she approached the bed. "How are you doing?"

"Honestly, I feel terrible," Jane replied. "But I was positive I was going to die, so I guess it could be worse. And the doctor said there's a very low chance of there being any permanent damage to my body, so I have that to be grateful for."

"You're being really brave about this," Catherine said as she sat down next to the bed.

Jane's face became more serious. "I saw how bad that kid looked, and I know what was about to happen. Was he…?"

"No, he wasn't," Catherine answered. "He's been injured pretty badly, but he'll heal."

"That's good. I have two nieces, and if anything happened to them, I know my sister would be crushed." Jane swallowed before continuing. "I didn't want that boy's mother to feel that kind of pain."

"I can understand that. I'm a mother myself," Catherine agreed. "But actually, that boy is an orphan."

"That's terrible…" Jane said.

"It is," Catherine agreed. "Do you think you can tell me what happened?"

Jane nodded. "I think I can."

"_Ugh, there's that pounding again," Jane said as she walked with her sister to her apartment, groceries in their arms._

"_Where's it coming from?" her sister asked._

"_It's from that guy in 506," Jane said as she grabbed her key from her pocket. "He moved in about a month ago, and he's _so_ creepy. He's a real jerk, too."_

"_Have you talked to him personally?"_

"_No, but I think I will. He really needs to shut up, too. I swear I can hear him shouting profanities at the TV at night." Jane paused as she placed the bags on the kitchen counter. "Actually, I think I'll go talk to him today."_

_Her sister looked at her watch. "I gotta go pick the girls up from day care now. Let me know how it goes, okay?"_

_Jane nodded. "Yeah, I'll call you tonight before nine. That way I can say hi to the girls, too."_

_Her sister laughed. "Yeah, they'd love that. See you."_

_Jane put food away for the next twenty minutes or so after her sister left, and then she walked down the hall to apartment 506. There was more pounding coming from inside, along with shouting. Jane checked the door. It was unlocked, so she wrenched it open, ready to have the most intense shouting match of her life with this guy if need be, but after she shouted at him to shut up, she froze._

_The man was leaning over a table with his pants down, a small boy pinned underneath him._

"_Oh my god," Jane breathed. "Oh my god, oh my god…" she took a step back, trying to think of a plan. She needed to reach a phone, she knew that, but she had locked her apartment. Getting to that would take too long, and this guy looked pissed._

_Not knowing what else to do, Jane tried to get to the kitchen phone, but the guy shoved the boy off the table and ran after her. She screamed as he tackled her to the ground, the phone in her hand. The man grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter and stabbed her hand with it, causing her to let go of it. She screamed again at the pain, and he punched her in the face before beginning to undo her pants. She struggled to get away, but the man was too strong, and after he finished raping her, he grabbed the knife again and stabbed her twice in the chest. She lost consciousness as he pulled his pants on, but she heard him speak to her before she completely faded away._

"_You bitch, you just ruined everything."_

"And then the next thing I knew, I was here," Jane finished.

"Are you doing okay?" Catherine asked. "I mean, most people have emotional troubles after something like this…"

"I think I'm fine," Jane replied. "I mean, it was terrifying, and I think I'm going to move in with my sister for a while so I can find a different apartment building, but… I guess I'm just glad I came before he could…" Jane trailed off and looked pensive for a moment before turning back to Catherine. "Can I see him?"

"You want to see Edward?" Catherine asked. "I think we can arrange that. He was very relieved when I told him you'd recover."

For the first time since Catherine had entered the room, Jane smiled. "He must be a wonderful kid if he can be worried about others after being hurt so badly."

"He is," Catherine agreed before standing up. "Well, I have to get back to the station. If you don't mind, we're going to have someone watching you in case this guy tries to come after you again."

"No, that's fine."

"Okay. We'll contact you if there's anything else," Catherine said before leaving the room.

---------------

When he returned, Grissom had more samples, which he dropped off at the lab for Greg to deal with. He then went to his office to catch up on paperwork. After an hour or so, Grissom decided to look at the pictures Greg had taken three years ago. He paused when he came to the one of the entire Elric family. Ed was certainly becoming his father, there was no doubt about that. Grissom wondered vaguely if Ed would get upset if anyone commented on that.

Grissom looked up when he heard a knock on his door, and he waved Greg in as he put the photos aside.

"What is it?" Grissom asked.

"Could you come to the lab for a minute? There's something you'd probably want to see."

"Probably?"

"It… doesn't exactly have anything to do with the case, but it's still worth looking at." Greg paused for a minute. "It has to do with Ed."

Grissom stood up. Greg had definitely caught his attention. "Okay, let's see it."

Once at the lab, Greg led Grissom to where Ed's clothes lay neatly folded on a table. Next to the clothing was a small stack of papers, and a silver pocket watch was attached to the pants by a chain. Greg pointed first to the watch, and then to the papers.

"See the design on the paper?" Greg asked. Grissom looked at the paper and back at the watch. Sure enough, the dragon and six-pointed star on the watch could also be found on the paper.

"It matches," Grissom stated. "So Ed joined some organization?"

"Not just any organization," Greg said. "I remember seeing this design when I was at the Rockbell house. Apparently it's the design on Amestris's flag."

"A government organization, then."

"Ed told me that the military was the government," Greg said. "And you should read what those say."

Grissom pulled on some gloves and picked up the first paper. "To Major Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist," he began, reading the introduction out loud. _Major?_

As he continued to read, Grissom found himself going through a few theories. The first was that this was all some big prank, but he discarded that when Greg informed him that the watch was made completely of silver. The second was that someone was confused, but when he saw the name signed on the bottom, he discarded that theory as well. Anyone who wrote this well couldn't make such a stupid mistake as putting the wrong name on a paper. Finally, he came to the conclusion that this was very real, and that one Colonel Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist had assigned this mission to _Major_ Edward Elric.

"_You mean the military? They use it all the time. They even have this test where if you pass, you become a State Alchemist. You work for them, and I've heard that you get a lot of research opportunities and I think you get a rank."_

"_A rank?"_

"_Yeah, I think the rank is Major…"_

So, he had done it. Ed had passed this test and became a State Alchemist.

"Did you find anything on these?" Grissom asked, gesturing to the watch and the papers.

"No, just a bunch of Ed's fingerprints and a couple of unknowns. Oh, and the watch won't open. It looks like Ed used alchemy to keep it shut."

"I'm taking these, then. Ed probably wants them back anyway," Grissom said.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks for telling me about this." Grissom unhooked the watch and grabbed it and the papers before heading out the door.

---------------

Ed was lying on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow, when Grissom entered the room. Evidently he hadn't heard the lead CSI open the door, because he didn't move when Grissom approached. Ed's hair was now pulled back into the same braid Grissom had seen earlier, and Grissom could see that the pillow was tearstained. He could also hear the occasional sniffle.

Grissom didn't make a sound. This was the first time he'd ever seen Ed cry, a surprising fact, considering what he'd been through both times Grissom had encountered the young alchemist. Part of him was surprised, but then again, Ed _was_ still a kid…

Considering what Grissom wanted to talk about, he decided that he'd save Ed at least a little embarrassment by not letting him know he'd seen the boy crying. He silently walked over to the door and made it a point to loudly open it, watching Ed all the while. Just as he expected, Ed quickly wiped his eyes and sat up, trying to pretend he hadn't been crying as Grissom closed the door.

"How are you doing?" Grissom asked as he walked over once again and sat down across from Ed.

"Fine, I guess," Ed replied, fingering his bandaged hand and making it a point to avoid eye contact with Grissom.

"I have something for you."

"You do?" Ed asked.

Grissom held out the watch and watched as Ed silently took it, looking at it for a moment before putting it into his pocket, muttering, "Thanks."

"I have something else, too," Grissom continued.

Ed looked up, confusion evident in his face. "Something else?"

Grissom held out the papers, his face serious. Ed looked surprised for a moment before silently accepting the papers, his face a mask of shame.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Grissom asked, hoping that Ed would say yes, but the alchemist simply shook his head.

"No. I wish it was, but it isn't."

"I thought you said you never wanted to be in the military."

Ed snorted in contempt and curled his right hand into a fist. "Yeah, well, that's not the case anymore, is it?"

"And why isn't it?"

"You said it yourself, didn't you? I've changed." Ed was looking straight at Grissom now, his golden eyes narrowed in anger. Grissom was somewhat surprised by the change in emotion, but not for long. After all, anger and shame often traveled in pairs.

"You've changed enough to completely change your beliefs about a corrupt government?" Grissom asked. "Somehow, I have a hard time believing that."

"Why is it so hard to believe? Do you think that I can't be that way because I was stupid enough to get myself kidnapped?" Ed's voice was surprisingly hard now, and full of contempt. Grissom had a hard time determining who Ed was directing it at.

"No, that's not why at all," Grissom replied. "I just didn't think you would be stupid enough to put yourself at risk like that. Have you changed your mind about killing people too?"

Ed seemed to snap at this point, and he raised his voice to the point where he was nearly shouting at Grissom. "Why the hell do you even care? It's not like it affects _you_!"

Grissom kept his voice calm. "You know, Ed, sometimes adults _are_ capable of caring about people they don't know very well. Why do you think I took this job in the first place?" When Ed didn't respond, Grissom continued. "I don't want you to get hurt anymore than you already have been."

Ed looked at his metal arm, gripping it as much as he could with his broken flesh hand. "You don't need to worry about that," he said, his voice quieter than before. "There's nothing that could happen that's worse than what we've already been through."

"You mean you and Al."

"Yes."

"You see, Ed, that's where I'm having trouble. What exactly did you do that makes the possibility of having to kill innocent people appealing?"

"That's not what I meant."

Just then, Grissom got a call. He answered it, listened to a message from Warrick, and hung up. "I have to go now. We'll talk about this later."

Just before Grissom left the room, he heard Ed speak, his voice shakier than it had been. "You don't have to worry about that," Ed began. "My commanding officer's a bastard, but he understands. He won't let me near a battlefield unless he has no other alternative."

Grissom stood in the doorway for another moment before turning to leave. "Like I said, we'll talk about this later."

-----------

Warrick aimed the flashlight beam at a pile of stuffed animals, in the center of which was a dead dog. Nearby lay a dead cat and a dead parrot, and on the opposite side of the room was a decapitated human whose head was nowhere to be found. As Grissom entered the room behind him, Warrick knelt down to examine the stuffed animals.

"You made it," Warrick said as he cleared the fake animals away from the dog. "How's your other case coming?"

Grissom went to work in the room, collecting samples and doing other things as he replied. "We have all the evidence we need to put this guy in jail, but it's hard to arrest someone you can't find. I'll probably have Catherine interview Jamie Tulsan when he wakes up, but right now there's nothing to do except hope that we find him."

"And how hard would that be?"

"If the brothers' and Greg's theory about there being another world out there that one could easily access from Las Vegas, then I'd say it's next to impossible."

"But since it isn't?"

Grissom shook his head. "Oh, I don't know if it's far from the truth. I just had an interesting conversation with Ed about what he's been up to since we last saw him."

"Hey, I found the head," Warrick said.

Grissom looked. "Clown makeup?"

Warrick shrugged. "It's not like this is your usual case. Speaking of which, what did Ed have to say?"

Grissom stood up and walked around the couch to look at something else. "He's in the military now."

"…What was that?"

"He's good enough at alchemy that they let him in," Grissom explained. "And apparently there's something that happened to him and his brother that makes him feel like the military's a good place for him to be."

"What the hell?"

"I'm going to see if I can get the full story," Grissom continued.

"No, I'm not talking about that," Warrick said. "I just found a picture of the dog humping the clown while the parrot's on the clown's head and the cat's climbing up his arm."

"Oh. Well, that's also something I'd like to get the full story to."

When Catherine stopped by to give some food to Ed, she noticed that he looked different. He was lying on his side like last time, staring out at the wall opposite him, his eyes blank. Catherine sat on the edge of the bed, making sure to get the small boy's attention by waving her hand in front of his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, noting the dried tears on his face.

Ed didn't respond for a while, opting instead to continue staring at the wall. Catherine was beginning to worry when Ed finally spoke. "I think Grissom might be mad at me."

"Why do you think that?" Catherine asked. She really didn't understand why Grissom would be angry with Ed. It didn't seem logical.

Ed pushed himself to a sitting position and reached into his right pocket, pulling out a silver watch and handing it to Catherine. "It's because of that."

Catherine looked at the watch for a moment, but she couldn't see anything that would be upsetting to Grissom. Of course, it probably wasn't the watch itself, but what it stood for. Catherine looked at it for another moment before handing it back to Ed. "What about it?"

Ed leaned against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest. "It's hard to explain."

"Ed, where did you get it?"

More silence. Ed leaned his head against his knees, looking away from Catherine. After a while, he mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do now. He said he was going to talk to me about it later, but I don't know what to say."

"Well, what do you want to say?"

"I don't know…"

Catherine stood up. "Well, think about it, okay? I'm sure you'll know soon enough."

Ed continued to stare at the wall. Catherine figured that meant he was thinking about it and gave Ed a pat on his uninjured shoulder. "Besides, you probably don't have anything to worry about. It would take a lot to make him mad at you."

--------------

After Catherine left the room, Ed let out a deep sigh and lay back down on his stomach, his head buried face-first in the pillow. He tried to concentrate on the matter at hand, but his mind kept leading him back to the time that had led him down this path in the first place. Having to remember that…

Ed screwed his eyes shut and gripped the pillow tightly with his right hand. His left was barely usable, and although the painkillers he'd been given were helping, the way they were making him feel was making Ed wonder whether they were worth it. He was better at dealing with pain than with nausea, especially with all he'd gone through in the past year or so. If it weren't for the fact that the first of his secrets had been found out, then he'd tell someone about it, but Ed figured that right now was a good time to just follow orders.

He didn't really care about people knowing that he was in the military, that was just a minor detail to him. Besides, most of the time nobody made the connection anyway. Ed didn't know for sure why having people here know about it was such a big deal, but it was. Besides, he didn't want to have Grissom getting the wrong idea about his goals, but the only way he could explain it well enough to Grissom would involve letting the CSI in on his biggest secret, and Ed didn't want that. Sure, what he'd done wasn't against the law in Vegas, but only because alchemy was considered impossible. What he'd done to himself, and especially what he'd done to Al… Ed honestly didn't know what kind of reaction to expect if he ever told the truth.

Ed let out an aggravated cry as his train of thought led him back to that night, and he flipped over to his back, hissing in pain as it aggravated the injuries on his chest. That caused him to become more frustrated with himself, and Ed broke down and cried for the third time that day.

_Perfect,_ he thought bitterly as he covered his eyes with his left arm. _Now I can't even keep myself from crying._

---------------

Now, back to the part with the decapitated clown that I put in there simply for something to be going on so that the CSIs have something to do other than sit around and twiddle their thumbs…

--------------

As Grissom listened to the absolutely fascinating description of the clown's COD, which consisted of his head being cut off with a chainsaw, as well as the descriptions of what had killed the animals that hated that clown so much, he found himself momentarily distracted by the thought of his inevitable conversation with Ed. Part of him was thinking he was being too harsh, but at the same time, he was afraid of what would happen. Even if this Colonel Mustang was going to do everything in his power to keep Ed away from the battlefield, there were higher ranks than colonel. And just how focused was this guy on keeping Ed safe? If Ed thought of him as a bastard, then did he really have Ed's interests at heart?

"Does this not intrigue you?"

Grissom blinked and looked up. "Why wouldn't it?"

"You seem rather distracted, and what could possibly be more interesting than this?" Dr. Robbins asked, pointing to the remnants of the red clown nose.

"Well, you know, sometimes the living can be more interesting than even a decapitated clown," Grissom replied.

"Oh, that Elric kid? That would explain it."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I saw him earlier. If that arm's real, then it would beat this guy any day. It makes me wonder why we don't have more of those in the world."

"Well, following Greg's 'parallel universe' theory, it's probably a technology that they've developed over on Ed's world, but at the same time, how many of Greg's crazy theories actually have any proof? Besides," Grissom continued. "That's not what I'm thinking about."

"Well, then, I'll leave you to your thoughts. Do you think he'd be willing to let me look at them?"

"Who, Ed? I'd have to ask him," Grissom replied, just as Catherine entered the morgue.

"Hey, Grissom, can I-" Catherine stopped short when she saw the dead clown on the table. "Wow, you've had an interesting day."

"And this isn't even the whole story," Grissom replied. "What do you need?"

"Um," Catherine tore her gaze away from the clown to look at Grissom. "I want to talk to you about Ed."

Grissom looked back over at Robbins before pulling off his gloves. "Yeah, sure."

-------------

So, for those of you who didn't get it, I am an eighteen-year-old girl who spends way too much time on my computer and lives in the middle of nowhere and is obsessed with my dog. And they're onto my plan. O shi-


	7. Chapter 7

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in Grissom's office, the photos Greg had taken lying on Grissom's desk. There was one of Ed and Al with their mother, probably taken just before she died, and all three Elrics were smiling.

"He was apologizing to both of them?" Grissom asked. "Why would he feel the need to apologize to his mother?"

"That's what I asked him, but he didn't give me an answer. So, why does he think you're upset with him?"

Grissom sighed. "You heard him describe the military of his 'country,' right?"

"Yeah. It sounded terrible," Catherine answered.

"Would you like it if Lindsey got involved with that?"

"Of course not! I mean, it's one thing if she wanted to go into the US military, but if that place really is as bad as Ed says it is…" Catherine trailed off. "That's what this is about, isn't it? You found out what Ed's been doing since he was here last."

"He claims he isn't in any real danger, but that's like saying Greg will never get injured on the job. And it's not just that. He told me specifically that he never wanted to get involved with the military."

Catherine frowned. "Something must have happened. The only way he'd change his mind like that is if he was desperate."

"But what could be worth that price?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Grissom blinked and looked at Catherine in confusion.

"It's because of Al. You saw how close those two were. When Al got sick, Ed was watching him like a hawk. He'd do anything for his brother, with the possible exception of hurting other people." Catherine looked back at the picture. "Besides, he did something he feels the need to apologize for."

Grissom looked pensively at the picture. "And he thinks I'm mad at him?"

"He does. And it's really hurting him. He had been crying before I talked to him."

"He was crying when I went in there, too," Grissom said.

"So what are you going to do?"

Grissom was quiet for a while. This is what he'd been thinking about for a while, and this was such an unusual situation that he didn't quite know what to do. "What do you think I should do?"

"Talk to him. Listen to his reasons. He wants you to understand, Gil. He wants you to understand his point of view. His reasons _why_. Part of him wants your approval, otherwise he wouldn't be so worried about you being upset with him." Catherine waited for a moment before standing up. "And if he doesn't say anything, it's because he still doesn't know what to say."

Grissom took the pictures and put them away. "Thanks, Catherine."

Catherine looked back as she walked through the door. "Thanks for listening to me instead of staring at a dead clown for the rest of your shift."

---------------

Ed woke up a few minutes before he heard the door open. He closed his eyes and lay still, hoping Grissom would leave him alone instead of trying to wake him up. It was childish, he knew, but he didn't know if he was ready to talk just yet. So he pretended to sleep.

"Ed, I know you're awake," Grissom said. "And I know you might not be ready to talk about this, so if you aren't, then just ignore me. I can wait."

Ed lay still for a while. He didn't know if he was ready or not. Part of him wanted to delay this moment, but another part of him just wanted to get this conversation over with. He continued to lie on the bed with his eyes closed, trying to come up with an answer.

About five minutes later, Ed heard Grissom stand up. "Well, I guess you aren't ready yet. I'll see you later."

"Wait." Ed opened his eyes to see Grissom looking back at him. Grissom turned around and sat back down, facing Ed.

"You're ready?"

"I don't know."

"Ed, I'm not angry with you. I just want to know why you made the choice you did."

Ed sat up and leaned against the wall, facing Grissom, but didn't speak. Earlier, he'd come up with something to say, but now it felt like he couldn't say it. He stared at his right hand for a while, trying to think.

"Ed, do you understand what I'm asking you?"

Ed raised his head and looked at Grissom, the confusion he felt probably evident on his face.

"What made you decide to work for the military?"

Ed lowered his gaze again and pulled his knees up to his chest. The reason he'd joined the military… Was it really supposed to be this hard to say it? He needed to find a way to get Al back to normal, but if he told Grissom that, then he'd have to explain why Al wasn't normal in the first place. And if he explained that, then he'd probably have to go into why the two of them were so different in the first place…

"Are you still there, Ed?"

Ed blinked and looked up. He still didn't know what to say…

"How about this? How long has it been since you joined?"

"About two months," Ed answered.

"Who made you do this?"

Ed was confused again. "What do you mean?"

"You're twelve. You couldn't have gotten into the military without someone's help."

"You saw the name on that paper, didn't you?" Ed asked. "Colonel Mustang."

"He pulled you into this?"

Ed shook his head. "No. I made the decision on my own."

"Then I guess that brings us back to my first question." Grissom leaned forward in his chair, looking Ed directly in the eye. "Why did you make that decision?"

"I didn't have much of a choice," Ed muttered.

"I thought you were the one to make the decision."

"I did. There's just no other way I can do what I need to do."

"Okay. What do you need to do?"

"Why does it matter?" Ed snapped before he could stop himself. "I destroyed our lives because of my stupidity! Does it really matter what I do now?"

"It seems to matter to you," Grissom said.

"How the hell would you know? You don't even know what I _did_! There's no way you'd ever be able to understand!" Ed shouted, wishing he could get rid of the tears in his eyes. His chest began aching despite the painkillers, and he began to regret shouting.

"If it didn't matter to you, then you wouldn't be making such a big deal out of it," Grissom said calmly. Ed wondered briefly how he could stay that calm, but then what Grissom said hit him. There was no way he'd be able to lie about how much it hurt him to have to be where he was, and there was no way he'd be able to hide it now that Grissom knew.

"Why do you care so much?" Ed whispered.

"Why do I care? Because you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met, Ed. You survived this past week without breaking, and you've proven that you can be selfless, even if it doesn't feel like it to you. You're perfectly capable of making a positive impact on the world, and I don't want to see you lose that."

Ed laughed, a bitter laugh that he'd been using a lot lately. "You really don't know anything about me. I can't ever make anything better. Not for myself, not for Al, not for anyone."

"Is that what you really think?" Grissom asked.

Ed held up his automail. "This is proof. You can see what happened to me. Al lost more, and it's all because of my stupid idea."

Grissom stared at the metal arm for a moment before speaking, very softly and directly. "What did you do?"

Ed lowered his arm. "You remember when I mentioned human transmutation?"

"I do."

Ed sighed as he said the words he'd been hoping desperately to avoid. "Well, now we know from experience why it's forbidden."

----------------

"_Our mother was the kindest person we'd ever known. When she died, I thought that maybe we wouldn't have to live without her. I thought we could bring her back."_

Grissom stared blankly at the door of his office. He didn't know what to think at the moment. Ed had become nauseous after their discussion, and Grissom had let him sleep. He had a feeling that the painkillers Ed was taking were making him sick, but considering the extent of Ed's injuries, there wasn't much of an alternative. He figured Ed had dealt with enough pain for a while.

Part of him regretted bringing up the subject. Ed had looked terrible, worse than Grissom had ever seen him, when he had admitted to attempting to bring his mother back from the dead. He probably relived that moment of failure every day, and reliving experiences like that through words was always worse, no matter who you were or what had happened. Here, Ed had spent at least five years studying and planning for what would have been one of the happiest days of his life, and instead of regaining someone he loved, his leg and only family had been taken away.

"_I managed to retrieve Al's soul and bind it to a suit of armor in my father's study, but at the cost of my arm. He's alive, but he can't feel anything. He can't sleep, either, so he has to wait out the night alone, with nothing to do but wait until morning. He doesn't deserve this. I have to make things right."_

Grissom hadn't believed the story about Al's soul at first, but then he realized that with everything Ed had proven to be capable of, bonding a soul wasn't as far-fetched as Grissom would usually consider it to be.

The idea of not feeling anything, of not being able to smile or to eat, of having to sit alone at night with nobody to talk to, had made Grissom want to slap Ed in the face for forcing his brother to live that way. But the urge had been very fleeting. Grissom could see in Ed's eyes that there was no punishment greater than what Ed was giving himself. Besides, how could he be angry with Ed? Most crimes that were committed were hurting someone. Murder, theft, rape, they all involved hurting someone, whether it was physical or otherwise, but what Ed had done… His intentions had been good from the start. The only thing he had done wrong was not understanding and underestimating why human transmutation had been banned in the first place, and all he had wanted was his mother. He hadn't wanted to end a life. He'd wanted to return life to someone he missed.

"_What do you mean by making things right?"_

"_I'm going to return Al to his old body."_

"_Isn't that repeating the same mistake you've already made? How do you know you'll be able to bring him back?"_

"_I don't."_

Those words had surprised Grissom. Ed knew himself that he might not succeed. He wasn't filling his head with empty hopes and unrealistic optimism. He was being realistic.

"_I don't know, but… But I have to try. I can't let Al live like that if there's a chance that I can get him back to normal. If there's a way, I'll find it."_

Ed's eyes had been dead serious when he'd said that, and Grissom had been impressed by his determination. Ed was strong-willed. If he made a promise, he would never break it unless he had no other alternative.

He didn't deserve what he'd been forced to go through. And he definitely didn't deserve to be kidnapped and beaten by a violent pedophile.

If Grissom ever met the guy face-to-face, that guy would regret the day he was born.

---------------

The next couple of days passed in the usual fashion. Ed was staying at the station 24/7 this time; nobody wanted to risk a repeat disappearing act, and it was obvious that Ed wouldn't be nearly as lucky if he was kidnapped again.

Finally, Jamie Tulsan was healed enough to be awake without extreme pain, and Catherine decided to take Ed with her and Sara to the hospital. Jane Lindy was recovering nicely, and her appearance was not likely to bother Ed. After all, Ed still looked worse.

Catherine left Ed with Sara before heading down to see Jamie. When she entered the room, she could tell that this probably would not end well.

"You're here already?" Jamie's mother asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Tulsan, we need to get information as soon as possible so that we can find the person who did this to your son," Catherine answered.

"He can't talk to you. He's too vulnerable. You people are always too harsh, he won't be able to take it."

Catherine sighed. "I can understand how you feel, Mrs. Tulsan, but I can assure you, I won't be harsh. I'm a mother myself, and I know I would never want anybody to be that way with my daughter."

Mrs. Tulsan scrutinized Catherine for a minute. "Fine."

"Thank you," Catherine said before walking around the bed and sitting down in a vacant chair. Jamie looked up at her with fearful eyes.

"Jamie? I'm Catherine Willows, I work with the Las Vegas police. How are you feeling?"

Jamie's voice was unsteady and tearful. "It hurts." He looked back up at Catherine. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, of course you're not in trouble. The only one who's in trouble is the one who did all this to you."

Jamie was crying now, tears streaming openly down his face. "Why me? He said I wasn't what he really wanted, so why did he do this to me?"

Catherine cringed. It seemed as if their culprit had only chosen Jamie because of his similarities to Ed. "Hey, listen. Sometimes people do things without thinking about how much they're hurting others. The person who did this to you is really bad, he only cares about what he wants, and that's why he hurt you so badly. He was selfish."

Jamie looked pleadingly up at Catherine. "So… it's not my fault that I wasn't what he wanted?"

"No. What he wants is something horrible, and we need to find him so that he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"Like that one kid?"

Catherine stopped. "What kid?"

"There was… right before he took me back to my parents, I saw this kid in his apartment. He was unconscious, and he was being shoved into this space in the back of the couch that that guy kept me when I wouldn't do what he told me. That guy looked at him the same way he looked at me."

Catherine frowned. So Jamie had still been in the apartment when Ed had been abducted… "Jamie, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

Catherine pulled out the sketch of the culprit and a file photo of Ed. She showed Jamie the sketch first, and when he tensed, she already knew the answer to the question she was going to ask. "Is this the man who did this to you?"

Jamie nodded.

"Okay." Catherine then held out the picture of Ed. "Is this the boy you saw?"

Jamie nodded again. "Yeah… that's him. Why do you have these?"

"We found him in that apartment," Catherine said. "That man wanted to do the same things to him."

"I-is he okay?"

"He's no worse off than you are." Catherine put the photo and the sketch away and looked Jamie straight in the eyes. "Can you say for sure that this man was the one who did all this to you?"

Jamie nodded. "Y-yeah."

"Okay. If you had to, would you be able to talk about what he did to you?"

"I-I don't have to right now?"

"No. You won't have to talk about it unless they need you to testify against this man in court, and we already have enough evidence against him to make him go to jail for a very long time."

"He made me do some really bad things…"

"I know he did. That's why we're going to find him and put him in jail. He has no right to hurt you the way he did."

"You don't know where he is?"

Catherine shook her head. "No. He ran away. He doesn't want to get in trouble for what he did, so he's hiding from us, but we'll find him."

"Do I have to see him again?"

Catherine sighed. "You might, but don't worry about that right now. He won't be able to hurt you anymore."

"You promise?"

Catherine gave Jamie a reassuring smile. "I promise."

As she walked out of the room, Catherine was disappointed to learn that Mrs. Tulsan was walking with her. Once they were out in the hallway, Mrs. Tulsan seemed to corner Catherine, her face a mask of fury.

"There's another kid involved now?"

Catherine nodded. "We weren't sure until recently if they were abducted by the same man, but since they were, there's not a chance this guy's going to get away with what he did."

"If you find him."

"We will find him."

"How can you? It's obvious you've dealt with this guy before, so why haven't you caught him yet?" Mrs. Tulsan sounded fairly hysterical. "Who knows how many kids he's hurt now, and all because you haven't been putting any effort into actually catching him!"

"Mrs. Tulsan, none of the sexual assaults on children match this guy except for these two cases. When criminals don't want to be found, they can put their entire being into keeping hidden. The only reason we found this other boy is because the culprit attempted to kill a woman who had informed her sister that she would be going to that apartment that day. I'm sorry, we're doing the best we can." Catherine noticed Sara walking up to the two, Ed in tow, and she tried to signal Sara to distract Ed as she spoke.

"You've let two children be raped because you can't find this man. You're obviously not doing as well as you could be."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Both Catherine and Mrs. Tulsan started at this new voice. Ed was standing just behind Mrs. Tulsan, his eyes glowing with anger. Sara was standing a few feet behind him, and she gave Catherine an apologetic shrug.

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Tulsan asked Ed.

"You heard me," Ed growled. "Why are you being such a jerk to people who are trying to help you?"

Mrs. Tulsan gaped at Ed for a moment before recovering and regaining her attitude. "You shouldn't butt into other peoples' business, young man. It's rude."

"What, just because I'm not your son means that bastard has nothing to do with me?" Ed's voice was cold. "Or did you miss the fact that half my body's covered in bandages?"

Mrs. Tulsan seemed to make the connection at that moment, and she seemed to soften. "I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated. Aren't you?"

"Why would I be frustrated?" Ed asked. "Just because that bastard has the sense to not let himself get caught? Sure, that's aggravating, but it's not her fault!" Ed gestured to Catherine at this last sentence. "Just because someone hasn't been caught doesn't mean the ones after him aren't doing everything they can to find him. You have to deal with disappointment sometimes."

"What would you know about disappointment?" Mrs. Tulsan snapped. Catherine and Sara had been trying to intervene, but neither Ed nor Mrs. Tulsan were giving them the chance. "You can still walk! My son won't be able to walk for several weeks!"

If Mrs. Tulsan had missed the pain in Ed's eyes after this last statement, then she had to be the most clueless person in the universe. "Just because I'm standing doesn't mean it's on my own two feet," Ed whispered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mrs. Tulsan asked, losing her angry tone and adapting a more confused tone.

Ed sat down on a nearby bench and pulled his left pant leg up to somewhere above the knee. Mrs. Tulsan stared at the metal prosthetic that connected to the scarred flesh of what remained of Ed's leg. Ed looked back up at Mrs. Tulsan, his eyes devoid of any emotion. "You should never judge people unless you know what they've been through."

----------------

Ed looked straight out the window as Catherine and Sara drove him back to the station. Mrs. Tulsan had completely changed after talking with Ed, and she had apologized profusely to both Ed and Catherine. Then Catherine had sat with Ed through a basic check-up, during which he had flat-out refused to take any medication while he continued to heal. The last painkiller he had taken was beginning to wear off, and even though Ed moved more slowly, he also began to resemble the small boy Catherine had met nearly four years ago.

He answered Catherine and Sara's attempts at conversation politely, but he didn't seem to be in the mood to speak. Catherine didn't blame him. Ed had aggravated his injuries while in the hospital, and he could barely breathe without feeling pain.

Once they arrived at the station, Catherine literally forced Ed to go to sleep, and she watched him for a while, Sara standing beside her. Ed's limbs were sticking out from underneath the blanket, the metal reflecting the room's artificial lighting.

"He's so small," Sara remarked, causing Ed to twitch in his sleep.

"Be careful when you say that. He almost gave Nick a bloody nose the other day."

"Seriously?"

"You heard me. He's like Mighty Mouse."

"Mighty Mouse with a traumatic past," Sara corrected as she watched Ed shift in his sleep.

"Oh, by the way, how did the visit with Lindy go?" Catherine asked.

"Awkward. Ed was too shy to say much, but other than that, I'd say it went well."

"That's good. As you could probably tell, Mrs. Tulsan was a little difficult to deal with."

"I can't believe he snapped like that," Sara said. "It was just…"

"He's had a hard time," Catherine said. "I think he needs to get away from all this."

"But Grissom doesn't want him leaving the station. How can we get him away from it if all he sees is us?"

Catherine watched Ed for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. "I'll probably have to bring Lindsey here when I pick her up tomorrow. Maybe they'll keep each other entertained."

Sara shrugged. "It couldn't hurt. Anyway, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you."

---------------

Grissom was tired. He was frustrated because there were absolutely no signs of their culprit, and it was beginning to affect his work. So, when Ed came into his office that evening, Grissom welcomed the distraction.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Grissom asked, gesturing to a chair.

Ed shrugged as he sat down. "Fine, I guess…"

"You're surviving without painkillers?"

Ed scowled. "Yeah. You know, I didn't have any of that when I was getting my arm and leg installed," he said, crossing his arms.

"Is that so?" Grissom was surprised by this. He realized that it would be painful, but if Ed didn't even have something to dull the pain…

"Of course it is. They wouldn't have done much good anyway. Getting automail installed is painful no matter what you're on."

"I see. Hey, speaking of which, do you remember Dr. Robbins?"

"Who?"

"The coroner."

Ed blinked. "Oh, yeah. What about him?"

"He was curious about your arm and leg. Would you be willing to let him look at it?"

Ed shrugged. "Sure. I don't mind."

"Okay. It'll probably be later on in the week, when he has more time." Grissom leaned forward in his chair. "So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, right. I have a question. It might be kinda stupid, but…"

"Go ahead."

Ed took a deep breath before beginning. "Today, at the hospital… that one kid's mom said something about two children being raped. I know she was talking about me and her son, but… what did she mean? I mean, I know it isn't anything good, but what exactly is it?"

Okay, so maybe Grissom _would_ rather be doing paperwork at this point in time… "Well… Do you know how the reproductive system works?" Grissom asked. _Or do you just know how it's set up?_

"Yeah, I know how that works…" Ed answered, his face turning a little red.

"Okay. Well, usually people are attracted to someone of the opposite sex, and they'll… live with each other, and…"

"Okay… I think I get the idea…"

Grissom was somewhat relieved. At least he didn't have to give Ed a sex ed. course. Now for the hard part…

"Well, sometimes people aren't attracted to the opposite sex." _I can't believe I have to explain this…_ "Sometimes males are attracted to other males… and some people are attracted to… well, people your age. There are laws against it, but they don't seem to care. As for what raping someone means… It's forcing them to have sex with you."

Ed was frowning, as if what Grissom had said was beyond his comprehension. "But wait… how would…" Then it seemed to dawn on Ed. "Oh…"

Grissom thought that Ed might get a nosebleed from all the blood that was rushing to his face. He might have been able to laugh at the situation if it weren't for what Ed said next.

"Then… Is that what happened to…"

Grissom sighed. "Yes. Jane Lindy and Mrs. Tulsan's son were both raped, and you were pretty close yourself. And trust me, you wouldn't be doing this well if it had happened to you."

Ed cringed. "But if she hadn't come in when she did, she wouldn't have…"

"No, but you would have, and then we never would have known what was going on in that place. She told Catherine herself, she was glad she arrived when she did. Besides, now we know he's here again, and we can find him."

"That's what you said last time," Ed muttered. "What if…"

"What if what?"

"Last time he tried coming after us again. Maybe if he thinks he can find me again…"

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Ed, what are you suggesting?"

"A trap." Ed looked up. "If he thinks he'll get what he wants, then he'll risk coming out into the open. That's what he did last time."

Grissom observed the small boy thoughtfully as he pondered the idea. The idea of luring the culprit out of hiding hadn't actually occurred to him, and it did seem like a good idea… "You know, that might actually work."

--------------

It's funny how the site didn't let me upload anything for two days straight even though every other website worked and even this one worked for other people. And now everything's fine again. Grawr.

And I was going to hold this story hostage in order to make AkitaFallow update, but then I realized that she's my beta… Oh well. Maybe I'll hold the House crossover hostage. HINT HINT HINT.


	8. Chapter 8

"Still no luck, huh?"

Brass shook his head as he entered the station. "Nope, he's disappeared. Again."

Grissom walked alongside Brass as they made their way to the offices. "Have you thought about luring him out with something?"

"Briefly, but the only thing he'd come out of hiding for is to get his hands on the kid."

"Ed came to that same conclusion today."

"He did, did he? What did he think of it?"

Grissom shrugged. "Well, he's the one who thought of it. I guess being in the military has taught him a few things."

"Right. Why did he decide on that again?"

Grissom paused. Ed hadn't outright asked him to keep what he'd done a secret, but Grissom could tell that Ed had placed his trust in him, so the CSI wouldn't ever tell. "He has his reasons," he said to Brass.

"Which means you're never going to tell anyone what he did," Brass interpreted.

"There's no real need to," Grissom stated. "He's accepted the consequences of his actions, and there's absolutely no way he'd repeat his mistake."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"Most people tend to avoid anything that could cost them part of their bodies. The only reason he did what he did in the first place was because nobody told him what the consequences would be."

"And that's why he gets to spend the rest of his life with a metal arm and leg." Brass shook his head. "You'd think people would explain these things to kids. So, do you think Ed would know the best way to lure this guy into a trap?"

Grissom shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

--------------

"Is this really necessary?"

Grissom looked down at the small alchemist lying on one of the morgue tables. "Sorry, but there isn't really anywhere else."

Ed glared at Grissom with all his might. "Yeah, right. You're getting a kick out of this, aren't you?"

"Hey, it could be worse," Robbins said. "At least you're on the one that hasn't been used before."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that makes it _so_ much better."

"Hey, you could have said no," Grissom said.

Ed opened his mouth to retort, didn't come up with anything good, and shut his mouth again. He was currently wearing his boxers, his right arm stretched out to his side and resting on something; Ed didn't bother asking what it was.

"And you can do anything with this arm that you could before you lost it?" Robbins asked, poking at the metal hand.

"Except for writing and stuff," Ed answered. "I can't really grab anything small with it."

"Not even yourself?" Grissom asked teasingly.

"Do you really have to make nonsensical jokes about my height?" Ed growled.

"Unless you'd rather have the eerie silence of the morgue instead."

"It's not eerie," Robbins countered. "It's rather comforting at times."

Ed looked nervously at Robbins, unsure if the man was kidding or serious. After a minute, he gave up and went back to glaring at Grissom.

"What's with all the evil death glares?" Grissom asked.

"You didn't tell me it would be like this."

Grissom shrugged apologetically. "Fair enough."

Ed's arm twitched as Robbins purposefully hit a nerve that would cause that sort of reaction in a normal arm. Robbins looked even more fascinated than before. "That's really thorough work right there. Whoever made this is a genius."

"No, she's not," Ed muttered. "She's evil."

"An evil genius?" Grissom asked.

Ed rolled his eyes. "No, my friend."

"Winry, right? She made this?"

Ed nodded.

"So she's going into the medical field like her parents?"

Ed's eyes darkened at the mention of Winry's parents. "Yeah. It's been that way for generations."

"Well, I'd say she's off to a very good start if she can make something like this," Robbins commented, walking around the table to look at Ed's leg. "How long did it take for you to adjust to it?"

"It takes three years on average for someone to be able to move properly," Ed answered. "I did it in one."

Grissom looked surprised for a moment. "That can't be healthy," Robbins remarked. Ed's leg twitched.

"I spent most of that year coughing up blood," Ed remarked.

There was a semi-awkward silence as Robbins continued to look at Ed's leg. After a while, he stopped, giving Ed a gentle pat on the back as Ed sat up. "Thanks for letting me look at it."

Ed grunted and pulled on his clothes as quickly as his injured body would allow him. Once he was dressed, Ed followed Grissom out of the room.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Grissom asked.

"There was a dead guy on the other side of the room, wasn't there?" Ed asked.

"Like I said, there wasn't anywhere else we could have gone," Grissom repeated. "Besides, you can say you've been examined by a coroner now. I'm sure you could use that in a conversation."

As David Phillips approached the two, moving a corpse along, Grissom saw a small smile flash across Ed's face. It disappeared when David got closer, however.

"Who's this?" Grissom asked, gesturing to the uncovered corpse.

"It was a domestic dispute turned insanely violent," David answered. "The husband's talking to Brass right now. Um… what's with the kid?"

"Oh, you haven't met him yet?" Grissom asked, looking down at Ed, only to make an unpleasant discovery. Ed seemed to be frozen in place, his face pale, and when Grissom looked more closely into Ed's eyes, all he could see was terror.

-------------

Despite the situation, Ed was beginning to appreciate Grissom's sense of humor as he lay on the morgue table. Not only that, ever since Ed had admitted to attempting human transmutation, he'd felt more and more like Grissom was the one person he could trust the most, so he'd been fine with agreeing to letting someone look at his arm and leg. Not only that, but he was happy that he'd been able to help by coming up with the idea of luring that bastard out using himself as bait. He felt like things were beginning to look up, and he finally felt relaxed enough to be able to smile naturally.

When he saw what was being carted down the hall, however, Ed lost any of the good feelings he'd been experiencing. The corpse looked an awful lot like…

"_Al. Al! Alphonse! Damn. Damn! He's been taken away! Someone… please help… mom…"_

The woman's insides had been displaced nearly as much as his mother's had been, and the general appearance brought back the memories he despised the most. It was like seeing his mother dead for the third time.

"Ed? Ed!"

Ed heard his name being called, but at the moment he couldn't react. He was seeing the dead face of his mother, he was reliving the night that had destroyed his and Al's lives…

He was vaguely aware of someone pulling him away from that hallway and sitting him down on a bench. Even though he couldn't see it anymore, the image of that woman wouldn't leave his head, and he couldn't help but think about his mother. Her corpse…

"Ed!"

Ed finally managed to snap out of it and looked up at Grissom. The CSI looked afraid, and if Ed looked as bad as he felt, then it was no wonder. Ed took a few shaky breaths, trying to calm himself down. It was nothing, just a coincidence. He didn't need to think about the result of that fatal transmutation…

"Ed, what's wrong? Was that too much for you?"

Ed took another shaky breath. "I…" Despite himself, Ed let out a small sob. Grissom pulled him to his feet and began leading him down the hall. After a while, he was sitting on his bed, a blanket draped around his shoulders.

"Ed, I really am sorry about that. I should have made you cover your eyes," Grissom began as he sat next to Ed. "You shouldn't have had to see that."

Ed shook his head. "I already have."

Grissom gave Ed a funny look. "Before today?"

Ed nodded. "That's how… that's how mom looked when… when we tried to bring her back…" he whispered, trying once again to rid his mind of those memories. "It wouldn't have been such a big deal otherwise," he somehow managed to add, trying for some unknown reason to make Grissom stop apologizing. It was Ed's fault he'd seen something like that in the first place, after all…

Grissom seemed speechless. The room was silent for what felt like an eternity, other than the occasional sniffles coming from Ed. He didn't really like that he was crying openly in front of Grissom, but there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment. He hated having to remember that night, and right now it felt like he'd never get that image out of his head.

----------------

It was hard to see Ed so broken down. Ever since he'd first met the kid, Grissom had had the impression that it would be next to impossible to break his spirit entirely, but here he was, holding his head in his hands and not even bothering to try and hide the fact that he was crying. It caught Grissom off guard, and after Ed had spoken about the results of that failed transmutation, he didn't know what to say. This was completely different from any case he'd ever worked, and Ed was different from anyone he'd ever met.

Not knowing what else to do, Grissom wrapped his arms around the small, injured body and pulled Ed toward him. Ed relaxed in his arms, and he continued to cry, but it began to slow, and after a while, Ed was still, breathing deeply and evenly. Grissom was about to let go when the door opened and Catherine entered the room.

"Hey, I heard there was a problem down by the morgue. What happened?"

Grissom let Catherine take over and watched as she laid Ed down on the bed. "He saw a woman's corpse, and it brought back some pretty bad memories, and… he broke down."

Catherine wiped the tears from Ed's face and began pulling off his shoes with a natural efficiency that came from being a mother. "Well, with what he's been through, it was more a question of when it would happen than if." She pulled the blanket over Ed's body and sat down on the bed, facing Grissom. "It looks like you handled it pretty well." Ed nearly rolled over onto his left side, but Catherine gently grabbed his metal arm and pulled him back.

"I just hope he doesn't have a problem tomorrow," Grissom said.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Catherine asked before it dawned on her. "Oh, yeah, they're trying to lure him out. Think he'll be okay?"

"Well, he's the one who came up with the plan, so he knows what he's getting into."

"You've got a point there. Anyway, I have to go pick up Lindsey now. I'll see you later."

Grissom continued to observe Ed, a vague concern entering his mind. "See you."

-------------

Ed woke up to someone gently shaking him by the shoulder. He blinked a few times and looked up to see Nick standing next to the bed, a bundle in his arms. "Hey, it's time to get ready," the CSI said, gesturing to the bundle.

Ed sat up and looked curiously at the bundle. "What is that?" he asked as he absentmindedly fingered the cast on his hand.

"Well," Nick began, sitting down next to Ed and pulling off the top layer of cloth. "This is all for you. Can you take your shirt off for a minute?"

Ed nodded and slowly pulled off the shirt, wincing slightly at the pain in his shoulder. He set it down next to him on the bed and looked expectantly at Nick. Nick, however, was looking at Ed's shoulder, where the automail connected.

"What?" Ed growled, noticing where Nick was looking.

"Oh, sorry. I just forgot about your arm for a minute."

Ed rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. He waited patiently as Nick pulled some sort of vest from the pile. "What's this?" Ed asked as Nick handed it to him.

"It's in case he has a gun," Nick answered. "It'll slow any bullet considerably before it hits your body, if it even gets that far."

Ed nodded his understanding and pulled it on. "And it won't be noticeable under my shirt?"

"Nah, not unless he pays really good attention," Nick responded as he pulled some sort of technology out of the pile. "Now, this is a special kind of radio that'll pick up most noise within a certain distance of it. That way, if there's a problem and for some reason you end up out of our sight, you can tell us where you are."

"Isn't this a bit much?" Ed asked.

"Ed, we don't want to take _any_ chances. We need to find this guy, and we need to make sure you're safe. We don't want you to end up in his hands again."

"You know, he wouldn't have gotten me the second time if I had been awake," Ed muttered.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that," Nick commented. "How exactly do you manage to stay in such good shape? Except for, you know, everything that guy did to you."

Ed shrugged. "After we got home last time, Al and I met someone who ended up teaching us more about alchemy, and she had us do a lot of sparring."

"What does sparring have to do with alchemy?" Nick asked as he strapped the radio thingy around Ed's right arm, just below the shoulder.

"To train the mind, you must first train the body," Ed replied. "That's what she always said, and we learned more from her in six months than we ever could have on our own."

"Think you could beat me?" Nick asked jokingly.

Ed shrugged. "Not right now, obviously, but maybe… You spar too?"

"I know how to defend myself."

Ed raised an eyebrow at this vague answer, but didn't comment. "Then I guess we'll find out."

Nick let Ed braid his hair before putting a hat on Ed's head and pulling it down over his eyes. "There, now there's less of a chance of him grabbing you by the hair. Why'd you grow it out, anyway?"

Ed pulled the hat up and glared at Nick. "Because I felt like it."

"Okay, fair enough. Come on, Brass wants to go over the plan with you."

------------

"Okay, you ready for this?" Brass asked as he led Ed through the station to the front door.

"Yeah."

"Remember, you don't want to look like you're waiting for him. Just act like you're upset about something."

"Yeah."

"And stay within three blocks of the station. We can trap him more easily if he's close."

"Got it."

"And stay on the main streets. Don't go into any alleys, because we'll assume he's found you and we'll come after you."

"Okay."

"Are you sure you'll remember all this?"

Ed's face was dead serious, and his eyes contained a determined glint. "I'm sure."

"Okay, just remember that we have every available officer watching out for you. If something goes wrong and someone doesn't come right away, then just use the radio to call for help."

"Right."

"So you know what you're doing first, right?"

Ed nodded. "We go outside, head for the car, and I run off like I'm pissed about something."

"Hey, watch your language."

"Sorry." Ed took a deep breath as they approached the front door. "So I just hide from you and stay on the main streets, right?"

"Exactly. How's your ankle?"

"It's pretty much healed."

"Can you run?"

The look in Ed's eyes was somewhat disconcerting. "Oh, don't worry. You won't be seeing me for a while."

Up to this point, Brass had been worried whether Ed could handle himself, but that look of determination and smugness in Ed's eyes almost made him laugh. No, he didn't need to worry about Ed. He'd do just fine.

"Okay, then," Brass said as he opened the door. "Time to put on your act."

-------------

He'd been waiting for this moment. He'd been living on the streets for the past several days, buying food as he needed it and watching the station vigilantly with the help of some bums he'd bribed with food. If the boy left the station, he would know.

Several days had passed, and the boy had only left once. He'd been with two people this time, not the best situation for trying to get his hands on his prize. He'd had to go back to waiting, a dangerous game when the police were after him.

But today was his lucky day. The boy was currently walking out of the station with some old man, his face a mask of rage. They were walking to a car.

He watched as the boy stopped short of the car door, and then the boy turned and ran. This was his chance. The boy was much faster than the one who was chasing after him, and then would soon be out of sight of the station, lost in the large city that wouldn't protect him.

He began making his way through the streets to where the boy had run to. Luckily, the boy had headed toward his side of the street, so he could even avoid revealing himself to the police.

He hid out in an alley that the boy would soon walk by, watching his prize walk quietly down the street, keeping his head down and his eyes open, most likely keeping an eye out for anyone who tried to follow him. He found himself distracted by the beauty of those eyes, and once again, he let his eyes travel over the small body. Ruined as it was by those false limbs of that country, it was still everything he loved in his obsession. He watched as the boy came even closer to his hiding place, thinking about just how wonderful it would be to get his hands on the brother. That younger boy had more desirable traits than his brother, softer eyes, a gentler face…

The boy was right next to the alley now. This was his chance. He'd take what he wanted and then dump the kid back in that city, just like he'd done with the others. It was pathetically easy. He'd take an Amestrian child to his home country, do what he wanted, and then send the kid back. The Amestrian military wouldn't be able to look for him in Vegas, and the Vegas police were completely unaware of what he was doing.

That is, until this kid had come along.

He risked being seen for a moment to grab the kid off the sidewalk and pull him back into the alley. The boy struggled with strength that nearly caught him off guard, but the boy stopped when he pointed a gun into his face.

"You're mine now."

-------------

Ed's mind was racing as he was forced to walk further down the alley. He knew that there would be help arriving soon enough, but at the moment, he could barely think straight. There was a gun pointed at his head. The guy was practically dragging him down the alley, and once they passed a gigantic pile of garbage, the man shoved him against a wall, causing pain to shoot through his injured chest.

"You fucking little pain in the ass, you're gonna pay for all the shit you've put me through," the man said, punching Ed in the face and causing his head to smack against the brick wall behind him. Ed blinked back the tears of pain that sprang to his eyes and bared his teeth. His body refused to respond, but at least he could still get himself to speak.

"I've put _you_ through shit?" Ed laughed, a cold laugh that he'd last used when Grissom had confronted him about joining the military. "What the hell is your problem? Do you get some sick kick out of other peoples' pain?"

The hat that Ed had been wearing was now discarded on the filthy ground, and the man had a painful grip on Ed's hair. "You want to know what turns me on? It's you. Your body, your hair, your eyes. I like seeing someone like you underneath me, I like the feel of your body…" The man was tracing a finger down Ed's chest, and Ed could tell where it was headed next. His arm finally responded, and a metal fist collided with that lust-filled face. The man staggered back, clutching his nose and staring with surprise at Ed. Ed was fairly surprised himself. He'd fought back in that man's apartment, but this time, any feeling of helplessness or fear was replaced by sheer rage.

"Las Vegas police! Put your hands up!" came a shout from the end of the alley. Ed spared a glance in that direction, and sure enough, there were several police pointing their guns at the man. Ed didn't feel much relief, though, because when he looked back, there was a gun inches away from his head.

"I'll kill him!" the man shouted. "Stay the hell away from me!"

Ed felt his body freeze again. _This is it, I'm gonna die…_

---------------

And to think, I almost made this chapter not a cliffy. Nope, I felt like being evil. And making the next chapter not so short. Muahaha.

And now for a game, called the worst case scenario game. You tell me a situation, and I'll tell you everything that'll go wrong with it. Offer only valid until I get chapter ten up. After that, I'll probably have lost interest. XD;


	9. Chapter 9

Okay! Tee hee, this was so much fun to do, I love it. Oh, and for future reference, it doesn't necessarily have to be an FMA scenario. You could just do something simple like "I take a plane to Florida" or something. But this is fine too. The format should be easy enough to understand, I put the reviewer's name, then the scenario, and then my response in the next paragraph. I have no idea why I felt the need to explain that, but I can probably blame my obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Seriously, you should just _look_ at my current art project. -shudders-

ehxhfdl14: Ed gets up, has breakfast, goes to the Colonel's office with Al for written & oral report, goes to the library to research, comes home, and goes to sleep.

First off, Ed trips on his bed, lands face-first in his breakfast, which had been spilled to the floor by a clumsy… person, hits sharp things with his eyes, goes temporarily blind, walks into the wrong office after getting out of the hospital with a very perverted old doctor, ends up giving his report to the Fuhrer on accident, gets taken into the mental hospital, gets experimented on for a while, loses his other arm and leg and gets Al taken away to be experimented on some more, has to listen to a five-year-old reading the alchemy texts for him because he's blind and nobody else wants to help, gets hit by a bus right outside his front door, and the impact sends him flying through the window and onto his bed. He is also unconscious, which would qualify for being asleep.

WolfChibi-Chan: umm, the gun is really a fake gun and everyone knows that it is except for the psycho killer guy and Ed. what could go wrong?

The fake gun isn't really a gun at all, and instead is an exploding banana, but the others don't know this because it's a very pretty banana and so everyone dies when the banana asplodes.

Monkey Mist Robo:

Scenario #1: Ed tries to shield himself with his automail arm.

His arm asplodes and everyone dies.

Scenario #2: Ed tries to knock the gun out the man's hand.

Ed tries to kick the gun, but instead trips and lands on his head, and all he does is nudge the guy's hand, causing the gun to misfire and hit a hidden button that causes all of the nearby buildings to go up in flames, and then the fire makes Ed's arm melt and he gets burned and stuff and then Roy appears out of nowhere and points and laughs before he asplodes and everyone dies.

Scenario #3: Ed tries to knock the gun out the man's hand, then makes a run for it.

He knocks the gun out of the man's hand, and it goes flying into the streets and hits some random guy in the head, but this guy happened to be a suicide bomber, so he accidentally asploded and everyone else asplodes, except for Ed, who had made a run for it. And Ed gets asploded off his feet and gets a boo-boo.

Scenario #4: The Police officers shoot the man.

It turns out the man is really Harry Potter and then Voldemort takes over the world because Harry's dead. And then all the muggles die and Ed has to work as a pet monkey in Voldemort's secret underground mines with Greg, who was mistaken for a wizard because… yeah. He just was. (meaning Harry's a pedophile. I'm sorry.)

Scenario #5: Nobody (except the guy) does anything in fear that Ed will get shot.

The guy shoots Ed anyway and Ed dies. And then the CSI people all kill themselves in despair in a very OOC moment of doom.

Yes, I really had fun with this. XD Anyway, here's the next chapter.

----------------

Brass swore under his breath when he saw the gun inches away from Ed's face. This was bad. The man seemed desperate now, and obviously Ed's life wasn't worth enough to him to try and keep the kid alive. A quick glance showed that Ed wasn't prepared for this turn of events either.

"Put the gun down," Brass finally said.

"You first," the man replied. "Unless you'd rather see this kid die."

Brass spared another glance at Ed. He seemed to be recovering from the initial shock, and his metal arm was slowly moving upward. Brass realized what the kid was probably trying to do. A bold move, but probably the only thing that would work.

"After all the effort you've put into trying to get your hands on him, you're willing to kill him now? Just like that?" Brass asked, trying to distract the man enough for Ed to have time to move.

The man laughed. "This kid? No, he's not what I'm after."

"Then what are you after?"

In response, the man pulled the trigger, and the sound of the gunshot echoed in the alley. Brass winced when he heard the noise and prepared himself for the sight of a dying child, but what he saw in front of him was a welcome surprise, and everything that he saw afterward happened so fast that he could barely believe it.

Ed's right hand was curled around the gun, and Ed was standing in what appeared to be a defensive martial arts stance, his eyes narrowed in either cold fury or concentration, most likely a mix of the two. There _was_ blood, but it was dripping from the gun, and since Ed's arm was raised above his shoulder, it couldn't have been his blood. No, it was dripping from the man's hand. There must have been some problem with the gun firing into a metal palm, because the man's hand was bleeding profusely.

Brass took all this in during the few brief seconds that Ed was holding this position, and as the man let out a strangled cry, Ed brought his left leg up and kicked the man in the stomach. The impact was enough to send the man flying, and as Ed evidently lost his balance and collapsed in a heap on the ground, the other police got their hands on their target and made sure he was immobilized before one called an ambulance.

Brass made his way over to Ed as the small alchemist pushed himself up with his left hand. His right lay motionless by his side.

"Hey, you all right?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, for the most part."

"What happened?"

Ed looked over at the man, who was still screaming, partially in pain and partially in rage. His face was grim. "You heard what he said, didn't you?"

Brass nodded. "Yeah. He really is a sick bastard, isn't he? Did he try anything with you?"

"No. I'm sure he was about to, but I hit him first."

"I hope you didn't use your broken hand."

Ed shook his head. "No."

"You can let go of the gun now."

Ed blinked, looking confused for a moment before looking down at his automail. The gun was still in his hand. There was an awkward pause before Ed spoke, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"I can't move my arm."

Brass wasn't surprised. After all, the prosthetic looked half destroyed from the forearm down. He pulled the gun from the metal fingers and handed it to Nick, who had just arrived on the scene.

"Hey, you did it," Nick said as Brass helped the alchemist to his feet. "You okay?"

"You're bleeding," Brass interjected, pointing to the back of Ed's head. Ed nodded.

"Yeah, I hit my head pretty hard on the wall," the alchemist replied. "And I think I stepped funny when I kicked him."

"And you'd be looking just like him if your arm wasn't metal," Brass added as they walked by the now-quiet kidnapper.

"I wouldn't have done that if my arm were normal," Ed replied. "I'm not stupid," he added, sounding as if he were offended.

"Of course not," Brass agreed as he got Ed to sit down on the steps of a nearby building. A crowd was building up, but thankfully, someone had already set up crowd control. Brass let one of the paramedics from the now-arrived ambulance take a look at Ed as the others went to assist the injured kidnapper.

Once Ed was taken care of and the ambulance was ready to take off, Brass walked with him to a nearby vehicle, which would take him back to the station. Ed stopped as they walked by the ambulance, from which the kidnapper forced himself to a sitting position to glare at Ed.

"I swear I'll kill you, kid. You're fucking dead," the man said before he was forced back down by the paramedics and the ambulance doors closed. Ed remained where he stood, his face serious.

"Just an empty threat," Brass said once the vehicle had driven off. "The only time you'd ever see him again is in a courtroom."

Ed simply nodded and remained silent as Brass brought him back to the station.

-------------

"You doing okay?"

Ed looked up to see Greg standing in the doorway, holding something in his arms. Ed nodded and went back to looking at his watch for a moment before closing it.

"You want to get back, don't you?" Greg asked, sitting next to Ed and setting down what Ed recognized as his clothes, the red coat resting on top of the pile.

"Yeah," Ed replied. "Al's probably worried sick about me."

"I asked Grissom about getting you back. He said it might have to wait until after the trial, depending on what the guy pleads today."

"But isn't it obvious that he did it?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, but some people are idiots," Greg answered. "Don't worry, though. It'll probably be fine."

"I guess…" Ed picked up his coat and looked at it for a while. It seemed to still be in good shape.

"I had someone repair and super clean all this," Greg said. "Is that okay?"

Ed nodded. "Thank you."

"The design on your coat, it's got to do with alchemy, right?"

Ed nodded again. "Yeah. My teacher has this symbol on her chest. I mean," Ed corrected himself, blushing slightly. "It's closer to her shoulder…"

Greg laughed. "I get it, don't worry."

"Um… so what are you doing here?" Ed asked.

"Just dropping these off," Greg replied, patting the clothes on the bed. "Leather pants, huh?"

Ed scowled. "Let me guess, you're going to make fun of them too."

"Of course not! That was all Grissom," Greg answered. "But you have to admit, it's pretty weird to see a twelve-year-old wearing this kind of outfit. It's like you want everyone to stare at you."

"Everyone already stares at us because of Al," Ed muttered. "I doubt what I wear makes much of a difference."

"I guess not." Greg stared at the wall for a moment before looking at Ed again. "Hey, I want to apologize."

"For what?"

"When I showed Grissom your watch and those papers, I wasn't doing it for the case at all. I just wanted to prove that your country does exist. I mean, ever since I got back last time, everyone's been making jokes at my expense, about how I'm crazy and believe in other worlds and so on… I just wanted someone to believe me. I guess I didn't think about how much you wanted to keep the truth a secret, and I should have respected your privacy. I'm sorry."

Ed shrugged. "It's fine. It's probably better that he knows the truth now, anyway."

"Who, Grissom?"

Ed nodded. "So I guess I can forgive you."

Greg laughed. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."

At that moment, Grissom entered the room and stood in the doorway. "Well, the good news is that he pleaded guilty and he's getting a life sentence, which means you're free to head home."

Ed looked curiously at Grissom. "Then… what's the bad news?"

"Do you know how you're going to get home?"

Ed thought about it for a minute before shaking his head. "No, I don't."

"Then that's the bad news."

Ed sighed in defeat and went back to staring at his watch. As much as he liked the people he'd met here, Ed didn't want to stay longer than he had to. Now that that man was heading to prison, he needed to get back to his original goal, and to do that, he had to be back in Amestris.

"So, because of that," Grissom continued. "I think Greg should take you around the city so you can get used to it here. Unless you have a problem with that."

Ed looked up at Grissom as he realized what the CSI was implying. Then he nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "No, no problems here."

"Good. I'll see you later, Greg."

Greg blinked as Grissom walked away. "Okay… so does that mean he actually believes me this time, or did he actually mean what he said?"

Ed shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to find out."

-----------------

They walked slowly down the street, Ed trailing behind due to his injured leg. He let out a sigh. It had almost completely healed, too…

"Okay, so I think last time we were around here," Greg said, stopping in front of an alley. "Should we try it?"

Ed shrugged. "Might as well." He walked behind Greg down the alley, only to walk right into him when he stopped suddenly. They both fell over, neither expecting that impact. Greg stood up first and held out a hand to help Ed up.

"What did you stop so suddenly for?" Ed asked.

"I thought I saw something," Greg replied. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Ed muttered as they continued down the alley to the main road. Before they made it, though, he stepped wrong on his bad leg and fell to the ground, letting out a surprised cry of pain. Greg moved to help him, but before he could, a shadow fell over Ed's body. Then Greg let out a girly scream and jumped back. Standing at the edge of the alley was a woman in a military uniform, and her gun was pointing straight at the CSI.

"Ah! First lieutenant!"

Greg risked a glance at Ed as the woman approached them. He seemed to recognize the woman who seemed about ready to blow Greg's head off, and he also seemed to be happy to see her. Greg looked back at the woman, who had lowered her gun slightly as she looked at Ed.

"I'm glad to see that you're alive. Who's this?"

"Um…" Greg began, unsure of what to do. "My name is Greg Sanders…"

"It's okay," Ed interrupted. "You can trust him."

Greg was scared out of his mind by this fierce blonde woman who happened to be pointing a gun at his head, and he didn't relax, even after she lowered her gun. "My apologies," she said. "I heard Edward cry out, and I assumed the worst."

"Uh… it's okay…" Greg stammered, his heart still pounding in his chest. The woman looked from Greg to Ed and moved to help Ed to his feet.

"Can you walk?" she asked, her voice surprisingly gentle.

"I'm not sure," Ed answered.

"My car's not far away," the woman said, pointing to an old-fashioned vehicle a few yards away. "Can you make it that far?"

"I think so," Ed replied, limping down the alley next to the woman. Greg followed, unsure of whether he should be concerned or not.

"Is Al okay?" Ed asked the woman, who had introduced herself as first lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, as they drove down the street.

"He's doing fine. He's been staying with me since you disappeared, so I'll take you there for tonight."

"Thank you," Ed muttered.

Greg was still unsure of what to do. Hawkeye seemed to be ignoring him at the moment, so he didn't know if speaking out loud would be a good idea for him. Thankfully, she seemed to understand, and she seemed to trust him enough when he helped Ed out of the car and into the apartment building in which Riza lived.

She opened the door and led them inside, where a suit of armor was sitting on the couch against the wall. "Alphonse, I found your brother."

Al looked up at the doorway, where Greg stood supporting Ed. Ed smiled. "Hey, Al."

"Brother? Are you okay?" Al asked, cautiously standing up and approaching the two. "Where have you…" Al turned to look at Greg. "Oh. So it _was_ that guy again?"

Ed nodded. "Don't worry, though. They caught him."

"Really? That's good." Al continued to look at Greg. "Thank you for bringing him back again."

"Yeah, no problem, Al," Greg answered.

Riza seemed to be happy as she closed the door behind them. She locked it and turned to Al. "Would you mind taking care of Edward tonight? You can use my bedroom."

"Ah! Yes," Al answered before helping Ed into the other room, closing the door behind him. Riza gestured to the table, and the two adults sat down.

"Alphonse told me what happened last time, but it was confusing. Would you mind explaining what happened? Or more specifically, why this person would come after Edward again?"

Greg nodded. "He was a pedophile, ma'am, and I guess he still wanted… well, what he didn't get the first time. He came close, too, but someone interrupted him, and… well, he raped her instead. The reason we found them was because her sister called and reported her missing."

"How is she?"

"She'll recover. So will Ed."

"That's good to hear." Riza stood up. "I should call Colonel Mustang. He's been almost as worried as Alphonse."

Greg waited quietly while Riza picked up the phone, wondering what he was going to do now. He hadn't quite thought about what he'd do if the military found him.

"Yes, sir, he's here." A pause. "He'll be fine. Alphonse is taking care of him." Another pause. "Yes, I know. I'm speaking to the person who brought him back. He knows what happened." Yet another pause. "No, he isn't responsible for this." A final pause. "I understand, sir. I'll make sure he doesn't leave here until you've stopped by." She looked at Greg at this and pointed to the door. Greg breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to let _Ed_ leave until the colonel stopped by…

"The colonel would like to know what happened, both the first time and this time. I realize you have to be heading back to your country, but we need to know. That way we can avoid any incidents like this in the future."

Greg nodded and began the story from the beginning, omitting the parts dealing with the fact that he was from another world. Once he finished, Riza nodded her understanding.

"I see." Riza stood up and went into her bedroom for a moment, returning with a pencil and some military stationary. "The colonel asked me to write a letter expressing our gratitude toward you and the ones you work with. Can I trust you to deliver it?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"Thank you. I realize you're probably anxious to return to your country, so you might want to visit Edward while I'm writing this. He'll want to say goodbye."

Greg nodded and walked over to the bedroom. Al was sitting on the floor next to the bed, and Ed was lying on his back, his eyes closed.

"How's everyone else doing?" Al asked as Greg sat down at the foot of the bed.

"Fine. How about you? I mean, it must have been pretty hard to have Ed disappear like that."

"I had a feeling you'd find him. I mean, I didn't know for sure that he'd been taken there, but I just had a feeling… Anyway, brother told me about what that guy was. Are you sure he wasn't…"

"Yeah, Al. There are tests for that kind of thing. That guy didn't do that to him."

"What about that other kid? Will he be okay?"

Greg sighed. "He'll probably be mentally scarred for the rest of his life, but he'll recover physically, and he has a loving family."

"His mom's a little crazy, though," Ed muttered. Greg started. He'd thought Ed was asleep.

"She was just trying to cope with what happened to her son," Greg said.

"And I'm trying to cope with the fact that Winry's gonna break my skull the next time I see her. And that's gonna be pretty soon, since I can't move my arm at all…"

"You going to see her?" Greg asked. "You should tell them I say hi."

"I will. Are you leaving after this?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah, I am. I don't want Grissom to think I got lost."

Ed smiled. "You should tell him he doesn't need to worry about me. You met Lieutenant Hawkeye. Just tell him about her."

"That's right," came Riza's voice from the door. She was smiling and inspecting her gun. "I'll make sure he behaves."

Ed shuddered, and Al and Greg laughed nervously. Finally, Greg said his goodbyes to Ed, Al and Riza before making his way back home.

---------------

As he trudged through the artificially lit streets of what he now knew was East City, Greg found himself browsing through the letter Riza had given him. It was interesting to see how much they could show they cared in such a professional sounding letter. Greg wished he could write that well. Maybe it would get him out of some of the less appealing aspects of his job…

He put the letter away as he entered the alley he'd met Riza in. As he walked down, he found himself becoming more aware of his surroundings, stopping only when he heard the sound of feet pounding against the pavement.

All of a sudden, Greg was knocked to the ground by someone who was sprinting down the alley. He rubbed his head as he stood up, and got hit by something else. Something big and Grissom-shaped.

"Greg! You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Greg answered as he looked around. Sure enough, he was back in Vegas.

"Where's Ed?"

"He's with Al, back at an apartment belonging to someone who works for the military. She works for Ed's commanding officer."

Grissom gave Greg a funny look before shaking his head. "Okay, fair enough. Did you see someone run past here?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah, he knocked me over."

"Did you happen to see where he went?"

Greg shrugged. "No. Who was that?"

"The clown's worst nemesis. Oh well, he's headed right for a blockade anyway."

"Okay then… Oh, before I forget," Greg said as they walked back down the alley. "Here's something they wanted me to give you." With that, Greg handed Grissom the letter.

"Okay, I'll read it later. Go back to the station now. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, okay."

As Greg made his way back, he had a smile on his face. Maybe this time Grissom would actually believe him.

-------------------

When Ed woke up, it was to Mustang standing in the doorway of Riza's bedroom, looking down at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Ed slowly pushed himself to a sitting position and looked at Roy with nervous eyes.

"Um…" Ed began, not quite sure what to say.

"You shouldn't have left yourself in such a vulnerable position, Fullmetal. If you're really that tired, then go back to your hotel room instead of sleeping on some bench in the park."

Ed blushed at this obvious criticism and glared at the colonel. "You know, I would have, but _you_ told me to stay where I was while _you_ went off and flirted with some woman! And let's not forget the fact that _you_ were the one who gave me a five-hour lecture on why I just _have_ to follow your orders if I don't want to be placed under the command of some old weirdo on the other side of the country."

"That still doesn't mean you should give into the temptation to sleep and put yourself into a position where people could easily take advantage of you! Look at yourself! You could have been killed!"

"You think I don't know that? Look, _I _ screwed up, and _I'm_ the one who got hurt, and _I'm_ the one he was after in the first place! But guess what, since _I_ was stupid enough to let myself get kidnapped, they finally managed to catch the bastard, and it just so happens that I'm not the only one he's gotten his hands on."

Roy seemed to soften at that. "Fine. Tell me what happened."

Ed scowled. "Didn't Greg tell you?"

"No. He told Lieutenant Hawkeye, and then she told me. But I want to hear it from your mouth. How could you have possibly been on the other side of the world for more than a day? You barely had enough time to travel there and back, much less be stuck there for two weeks."

Ed sighed. "Fine." He began with the way he had accidentally arrived in Las Vegas, which gained him many concerned looks from Roy.

"So you found a… portal of sorts between this world and the world on which you were being held against your will."

Ed nodded. "That's right."

Roy heaved a deep sigh and walked out of the room. "Come on. I'm taking you to a hospital."

"Why? They said that I'll be fine!"

"Let me put it this way. You don't have a choice."

Ed sighed and unwillingly followed Roy to Riza's car, and she gave them a ride to a nearby military hospital. As Ed sat in an examination room, he looked sadly down at his right arm. Winry was not going to be happy when she saw what had happened…

"All right, let's get this over with," said a doctor who had just entered the room. Ed frowned when he looked at the man's face, and to his surprise, he was grateful that Roy was in the room with him. The doctor pulled on some gloves before looking at Ed again. "Lie down."

Ed hesitated for a moment, but when he heard Roy impatiently clear his throat, he lay on the bed, not wanting to anger the already-irritated Flame Alchemist.

As the doctor approached Ed and reached down toward his chest, Ed felt a flare of panic. He sat up and pulled himself as far away from the man as he could. "Stay away from me!"

Other than Ed's heavy breathing, the room was dead silent for a moment before Roy let out a sigh and walked up to the bed. "I'm sorry about this, but would you mind giving me a moment to speak with him?"

"Y-yes, of course," the doctor answered before exiting the room. Once the door was shut, Roy put a hand under Ed's chin and pushed it up so that Ed was forced to look into the colonel's eyes.

"What the hell is going through your head? He's a doctor. He _has_ to touch you to see how badly you're injured."

"Did you see the look in his eyes?" Ed asked.

"The… what?"

"Those eyes… that bastard had always looked at me the same way…"

Roy stared at Ed for a moment before letting out an exasperated sigh and heading to the door. "I'll ask for someone else, then."

Ed lowered his head once more. "Thank you."

"No… You have nothing to thank me for," Roy replied from the doorway, his back to Ed. "You were right. I shouldn't have left you alone. Just think of anything nice I do until you heal as my way of apologizing."

----------------

Grissom was typing away on his computer when Greg entered the room. Grissom waved Greg over to his desk before the younger man had a chance to speak.

"What is it?" Greg asked as he looked at the screen.

"It's Amestris," Grissom answered.

"Oh, so it _is_ a country," Greg said.

"No." Grissom turned to face Greg as he spoke. "Amestris, the wife of Xerxes, who was a king of Persia over two thousand years ago."

"Really? Is it spelled the same too?"

Grissom nodded. "It is. I also looked up the name of Ed's father, Von Hohenheim. Apparently there was an alchemist in the early sixteenth century with that name, who eventually went by the name of Paracelsus."

"Wow. So, what does all this mean?"

Grissom sighed as he shut off his computer. "I don't know, Greg. I don't know."

---------------

And now that I've done round one of the worst-case-scenario game, feel free to give more scenarios, but remember, I'm stopping this after chapter ten is up. It's fun, but I'm lazy.

Anyway, this marks the end of part two. And now for a preview of part three:

"USELESS USELESS USELESS!"

"SHRIMP!"

"WORTHLESS!"

"PIPSQUEAK!"

So yes, Roy shall be in part three. Isn't that exciting:D


	10. Chapter 10

So… I wasn't quite as creative with this batch of worst-case scenarios, and this marks the end of the game, so no more plz.

Akitafallow:

Scenario #1: Ed finds a girl on the streets holding a Philosopher's Stone. She runs away. Ed follows. Ed gets the Philosopher's Stone. Ed and Al get their bodies back. (This is courtesy of my BEST BUD, Crystone!)

The girl is Winry and Ed beats her up without realizing this and so Winry beats him up in retaliation and their relationship is never the same.

Scenario #2: Ed gets on a train.

Everything that happens in that one episode of Numb3rs I got instead of Uncertainty Principle because iTunes sucks. Meaning the train crashes and junk.

Scenario #3: Al goes into ballet.

He gets mentally scarred by bullies who make fun of his armor-tutu.

Scenario #4: Ed goes into ballet.

He punches out all the bullies who make fun of his tutu and gets kicked out.

Scenario #5: Kimbley sets off a bomb in Liore.

Uh… people die. Duh.

Scenario #6: Ed and Mustang get locked in a room together.

They have hawt buttsechs and Ed gets pregnant.

Scenario #7: A chimera and Ed get locked in a room together.

They have hawt buttsechs and the chimera gets pregnant.

Scenario #8: Ed's teacher calls him short.

Uh… the building asplodes from feeling Ed's angry vibes and they all die.

Scenario #9: Ed rebels against fanfictions.

I commit suicide because of my sadness.

Zaywex:

Ed grows three inches after announcing "42 fish" out loud.

He was right underneath a sharp object when he announced it…

ehxhfdl14

I go to the library, read some books and study for a bit, then borrow some books to read at home. What could go wrong?

You forget to return them and someone sends Alucard after you and bad stuff happens.

Monkey Mist Robo

Scenario #1: I go to Amestris and tackle Ed. (yes, I'm a rabid fangirl.)

ED KILL JOO AND I GET LESS REVIEWS.

Scenario #2: I stab Scar.

SCAR IS SECRETLY HARRY POTTER. YOU KILL SCAR, YOU DESTROY LIFE FOR MUGGLES AS WE KNOW IT.

Scenario #3: I lock Riza in a steel lined closet and dump water on Roy.

Gunfire ricochets in closet, Riza dies, and Roy goes emo cuz he's useless and his love got killed.

Scenario #4: I steal Havocs cigarettes and set them on fire with Roy's gloves. (Which I stole before I dumped water on him.)

Havoc goes emo cuz you stole his drug.

Scenario #5: I beat Breda at chess. (Which I suck at in real life. --)

The world implodes due to an event that should never have taken place.

Scenario #6: I brainwash the Homunculi into being my minions.

The brainwashing has a nasty side effect of making them all want to have hawt buttsechs with Ed.

Scenario #7: I learn alchemy and join the military.

Ed remembers all the homunculi who tried to have hawt buttsechs with him due to your brainwashing and he kills you, which gets him kicked out and Al goes bye-bye because of the rejection effect.

Wow, two pages of semi-crack. And now onto the story.

Two Years Later

Grissom could have sworn he'd heard an explosion in the distance. He looked up from the crime scene he was currently processing, trying to see if he had really heard it or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him. When he saw that nobody else seemed to have heard it, Grissom went back to work.

A few minutes later, Greg approached him, a recognizable look of apprehension on his face. Grissom mentally prepared himself for whatever nonsense Greg was going to spout this time.

"Did you hear something a while ago?" Greg asked.

"Hear something? Like what?"

"Like… an explosion…?"

Grissom blinked. So he _hadn't_ been the only one to hear it. "You heard it too?"

"Yeah, but Nick didn't, and with that guy breaking out of jail, I thought it might be…"

Grissom sighed. "Greg, the only reason we can't find him is because of everything that's been going on in town this month. Haven't you noticed that this is the fifth case we've been on since yesterday morning? And that's just the major ones."

"Yeah, I know it's been busy and all, but I really think he's _there_." Grissom shook his head at the emphasis Greg put on his final word, but Greg obviously didn't notice it. "I seriously think we need to find Ed."

"How can we?" Grissom asked. "Even if we manage to get to his home 'country,' he said it himself, he travels too much to be easy to track down."

"Yeah, but if we got a message to Lieutenant Hawk-"

"Greg."

Greg blinked. "What?"

"Wasn't there a car parked out there just a moment ago?"

Greg looked down the alley to the main street. "Yeah, the car I drove down here in. That's weird, nobody should have moved it…"

Grissom sighed. "Come on, let's go see what's going on."

When they exited the alley, both CSIs were surprised to see that the street they were on was now an alley. Grissom groaned, but Greg silently clenched his fist in victory. They stood there for another moment before Grissom snapped out of it.

"And so you were right."

"Well, yeah," Greg answered. "Did you really think I was making it up?"

Grissom sighed and turned around. "Well, I believe you now, so it's time to get back to work."

"Wait. We're here now, so shouldn't we try and find Ed? He deserves to know about that guy."

Grissom turned around again. "Do you really think we'll be able to find him?"

Greg was about to answer that question when he was interrupted by the sound of heavy, uneven footsteps. They turned to see a small red blur approaching, and Grissom recognized the face of the boy running down the alley.

"Ed!"

THIS IS WHERE THE OPENING CREDITS WOULD GO IF THIS WERE A REAL EPISODE OF CSI!

Ed had just passed the two when Grissom shouted his name, and he looked back in surprise as he continued to run. His eyes widened in recognition, and all of a sudden he tripped and tumbled into a nearby mound of trash. There was a loud crash and a surprised yelp, and Grissom and Greg slowly approached the now-upside-down teenager.

"You okay?" Grissom asked, holding a hand out to help Ed up.

Ed refused to grab the hand, opting instead to push himself right-side-up and sit on the ground, rubbing his head with his flesh hand. "I'm fine. What are you doing here?" he asked, giving the two CSIs an inquisitive look.

"Well… I'd say it's more by accident that we arrived here, really," Grissom said, glancing at Greg before continuing. "But I'm glad we did. There's something-"

"FULLMETAL!"

Grissom jumped at this shout from a nearby street. Ed cringed and quickly got to his feet. "Can you tell me later? I need to hide."

"Hide…? Just what did you do?" Grissom asked incredulously.

"I didn't do anything!" Ed snapped as he ducked behind a pile of trash cans, completely disappearing from sight. "And I'm not here, okay?"

"Ed-"

"Not here!"

Grissom sighed and leaned against the wall. "Well, Greg, you heard him. He's not here."

Greg didn't seem to hear what Grissom had said, as he was squatting on the ground, staring at something with such interest that Grissom had the urge to see what it was. Just then, however, the two heard a voice from the end of the alley.

"Excuse me," said a dark-haired man between deep breaths. He was wearing a blue uniform, and he looked furious as he walked down the alley toward the two CSIs. "Did you see someone pass by here a moment ago?"

Grissom shrugged. "No, but it sounds like there's a cat behind those trash cans," he said, pointing directly at Ed's hiding place. He wasn't about to let the alchemist get away with whatever he'd done.

The man raised an eyebrow at Grissom before looking at the trash cans. "Is that so?" He pulled a gloved hand out of his pocket and held it out in front of him, his fingers in a snapping position. "I guess I'll just have to see for myself."

Greg looked up just in time to see the man snap his fingers, and he lost his balance as an explosion grew out of nowhere, knocking over the trash cans and causing Ed to yelp in surprise as his cover was literally blown away. The soldier walked purposefully up to Ed, his face a mask of sheer rage, and Grissom had a momentary fear that he was going to witness a very violent murder.

To Grissom's surprise and relief, however, the man simply grabbed Ed by the ear and yanked him to his feet. "Nice try, but you just made it worse for yourself." Then the man turned to face Grissom, still holding Ed by the ear. "Thank you."

"No problem," Grissom replied, shrugging apologetically at Ed. Ed, however, glared at the CSI before pushing away the soldier's hand.

"Hey, Colonel, you're just going to ignore two _obviously_ suspicious people standing in an alley?"

The man looked with confusion at Ed. "What?" He looked over at Greg and Grissom for a moment before his face lit up with understanding. "Okay, Fullmetal, how do you know these two, and what exactly makes them so suspicious?"

"Well," Ed said, glaring at Grissom with a passion that made it obvious that he didn't appreciate being ratted out. "There's no way their entrance into this country was legal. You should check their passports."

The colonel narrowed his eyes as he continued to observe the two CSIs. "And let me guess, you could easily say the same thing about the past two times you've encountered this pipsqueak."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT-"

"Indeed I could," Grissom replied, cutting off Ed's rant.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to go with me to headquarters," the colonel said. "I can't exactly overlook two people who shouldn't be here."

"Not a problem," Grissom replied. In fact, he was happy. If this was the man who was in charge of Ed, then maybe Ed would be protected without having to know the truth. He wasn't sure how much he wanted Ed to hear that his tormenter was on the loose again.

As they walked down the alley to an old-fashioned car that had seemed to arrive out of nowhere, a blonde soldier with a cigarette in his mouth leaning casually against it, Grissom couldn't help but notice the incredibly smug look on Ed's face. Evidently, the colonel noticed it as well, because after a while he stopped with an irritated sigh.

"Yes, Fullmetal, you were right, and I believe you now, and you can stop looking so damn smug about it."

"What are you talking about? I'm just smiling, Mustang. Nothing smug about it. Although it _is_ nice to see you being proven wrong for once."

Mustang smiled as well. "And it'll be _very_ nice to see you repair my office, and since the average time it takes to construct a room of that size is three days, that's how long you'll be doing it, regardless of when you actually finish."

Grissom had to try hard not to laugh at how quickly Ed's face fell. He had a feeling he'd be getting along very well with Colonel Mustang.

--------------

"A break-out, you say?"

"That's right," Grissom answered. "Several of the inmates had escaped by the time the police were able to lock the area down, and this man was one of them."

There was a frustrated cry from the room next door, which just happened to be Roy's demolished office. Roy ignored it as he looked through the remains of his paperwork. "I've heard reports from Central that there's been at least two cases of a child going missing in the past month. There have also been eyewitness reports of someone matching the description of this man."

"Central?"

Roy nodded. "That's right. A good friend of mine works at the tribunal there." Roy narrowed his eyes. "You know, he may need some help, now that I think about it. If the culprit is the one you're after, then this may be an international case of sorts, and if he's a native of your country, I'm sure it would be best if he was taken back."

Grissom didn't take long to make his decision. The case he'd been working on back in Vegas would easily be solved by the others, and right now, he relished the opportunity to be the one who brought this guy down. "I think you're right about that."

Mustang stood up and knocked on the wall that separated them from his office. "Fullmetal, since you can hear everything I'm saying, come in here."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to leave," Ed shot back.

"You're allowed to go out into the hallway, walk ten feet, and enter the door that leads into this room. Now."

A minute later, Ed was sitting next to Grissom, his arms crossed and his face emotionless. Greg stood behind them, next to a suit of armor that Grissom had seen earlier.

"I have a new mission for you, Fullmetal," Roy began.

"Already? What about your office?"

"This is more important. Besides, I know you can finish my office in less than ten minutes."

Ed scowled. "Fine. What is it?"

"First off, I'm leaving you in charge of these two," Roy began. "Since they've helped you so much I'm sure you don't have a problem with that."

Ed's face remained emotionless. "Fine."

"Second, I'm sending you to Central along with these two. You're going to meet up with Hughes, and you're going to work with him to find this man."

"_Hughes?_" Ed asked incredulously. "Why him?"

"Because I say so. Oh, and if you try to work on your own, I'll have you court-martialed for disobeying a direct order."

"…Fine." Ed leaned back in his chair and folded his arms again. "Is that all, _sir_?"

"Not quite. There's still the matter of my office, but we should discuss that matter in private."

Grissom took the cue to leave and stood up. He walked with Greg and the suit of armor to the hallway, closing the door behind him.

"I'm a little concerned," Greg said. "Why exactly is Ed so upset about working with this Hughes guy?"

"It's not that he doesn't like him," the armor said, in a young voice that startled Grissom. It took the CSI a while to remember the conversation he'd had with Ed two years ago.

"Then what is it, Al?" Grissom asked.

"Well… Lieutenant Colonel Hughes has a daughter, and… well, if you meet him, you'll know everything about her within an hour."

"Oh, he's obsessed."

Al nodded. "Yeah. _Really_ obsessed."

"So, how are you doing?" Grissom asked. "It's been a while."

"Ah… I'm fine. How about you?"

"Not bad. I didn't think that Colonel Mustang would be that young."

"Yeah, it's kind of surprising, isn't it? I'm just a little worried…" Al trailed off, looking at the door. Even though he couldn't express emotions through his face, Grissom could tell that Al was feeling a great sense of unease.

"Oh, you're still here, Alphonse?"

Grissom turned around at the sound of the female voice. A blonde woman was standing there, wearing a uniform and holding a file in her hands.

"Um, yeah. Brother's talking to the colonel right now, so…"

The woman raised her eyebrows at the sight of Greg, who had been standing behind Al. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Sanders."

"Um, yeah, hi…" Greg answered. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, right?"

"That's right. Who's this?" she asked, looking curiously at Grissom.

"I'm Gil Grissom." Grissom stuck out his hand.

Riza took it with a polite smile. "It's nice to meet you in person."

"Same here."

Any conversation they would have had was interrupted by an angry shout from the other room. Greg and Grissom looked over at the door in surprise, Alphonse slapped his metal forehead, and Riza let out a resigned sigh.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Grissom heard. That was Ed's voice.

Apparently Roy wasn't feeling the need to be as vocal as his young subordinate, because they couldn't hear what was said next, but then Ed shouted again.

"Does this happen often?" Grissom asked.

"It's impossible to put those two in a room together and not have something like this happen," Riza replied. "I just hope they've worn themselves out," she continued, pointing at the door to Roy's office.

"Wow, that's…" Greg began.

"Yeah, brother tends to resort to using alchemy whenever he gets really upset," Al said.

"And the colonel's no better," Riza added before she and Al simultaneously sighed in defeat. Then the hallway was silent, other than the shouts coming from Roy's temporary office.

"Well, at least my usefulness doesn't run out when someone dumps a bucket of water on my head!" That was Ed.

"You couldn't even get that high up without a ladder!" That was Roy.

"Who are you calling short, useless?!?"

"Don't call me useless!"

"USELESS USELESS USELESS!"

"SHRIMP!"

"WORTHLESS!"

"PIPSQUEAK!"

Riza sighed and muttered, "Excuse me," as she walked over to the door. Grissom noticed her pull out a gun as she opened it and entered the room. He and Al were ready for the gunshot. Greg wasn't.

And thus, Greg screamed like a little girl for the second time in Riza Hawkeye's presence.

-----------------

"Wow, you two were really going at each other's throats," Greg said as he walked with Ed through the streets of East City.

"That bastard said he was taking the repair costs out of my research fund," Ed muttered. "Even though I completely fixed his office _and_ the courtyard."

"The courtyard…?"

"It's not that I need the money," Ed continued, ignoring Greg's worried look. "It's just that I don't like him taunting me like that. It's annoying."

"You know, if I ever blew up the lab, Grissom would just kick me out and that'd be the end of it," Greg remarked.

"But that's probably because you're not a child prodigy," Ed replied. "No, I'd have to really screw up to get kicked out of the military."

Greg couldn't ignore the bitterness in Ed's voice. He was about to comment on it when Ed spoke again.

"Anyway, this is the hotel. I'll get another room for you guys so Al doesn't feel obliged to 'clean up' after me."

"You're paying for it? Are you sure-"

"Equivalent exchange. You helped me, so this really isn't a big deal for me."

"Oh, well… thanks."

Ed grunted in response as he approached the front desk. Greg was fairly surprised to see how respectful the man behind the counter was toward Ed. It was if Ed were a regular guest.

After a minute, Ed turned around and handed Greg a key. "You're across the hall from us, on the fourth floor. What's in the case?"

Greg remembered the CSI kit that he'd been carrying with him since arriving in this world and looked at it as they walked to the stairway. "Oh, it's for gathering evidence."

"Ah. Right. Is that what Grissom had, too?"

"Yeah. Speaking of which, how long do you think it'll take for them to finish?"

Ed shrugged. "Mustang usually makes things quick when he's not trying to torment me. I doubt it'll be more than an hour."

"Okay, sounds good."

---------------

As soon as Mustang had sent Ed out with Greg, Grissom had found himself waiting for Roy to finish talking to Lt. Colonel Hughes on the phone, and he sat out in the hallway with Alphonse. It was strange to think that the suit of armor sitting next to him was really the small boy he'd met nearly six years ago. Al was taller than him now as well, which was probably very awkward for the younger brother, especially when it came to his older brother. Ed barely came up to Al's chest. That had to be awkward.

Once Mustang was done on the phone and let Grissom back into his office, Grissom asked the question he'd had on his mind. "You're letting Ed go looking for someone who wants to kill him?"

"What do you think it would take to convince him to stay away?" Roy asked. "Think about who we're talking about here."

Grissom remained silent. Roy did have a point…

"Fullmetal would try to go after him even if I put him in a high security prison. I figure this way, he's getting what he wants, as well as the protection he needs. I've known Hughes since before Ishbal. He works a desk job, but he's very capable of fighting should the need arise."

Any doubts Grissom had had about Roy were now gone. This man definitely knew what he was doing. Ed was in very good hands.

"Apparently there's been another kidnapping," Roy said, interrupting Grissom's musings. "You and the Elric brothers will take the train to Central tomorrow at nine. Hughes is grateful for any help he can get at this point. He'll meet you at the train station in Central and you can work from there."

"Sounds like a plan," Grissom replied. He was about to leave when something occurred to him. "You know, you're putting a lot of faith into people you barely know anything about."

"I trust my subordinates," Roy stated. "And he trusts you."

As Grissom walked with Al through the city to the hotel, he pondered Mustang's words. The man was young, only a few years older than Greg from the looks of him, but he was a brilliant strategist. It was no wonder he'd become a colonel at that age.

He just hoped that Lt. Col. Hughes was the same kind of man…

--------------------

A knock on Ed's door told him that Grissom and Al had finally arrived, and he got up to open the door, nearly tripping on his suitcase as he did so. Once he had let in Al and Grissom, Ed went back to his seat on his bed, looking expectantly at Grissom.

"We leave tomorrow," Grissom said.

"I figured as much," Ed muttered. "Oh, and Greg found something."

Grissom raised an eyebrow at the younger CSI. "Yeah? What is it?"

Greg pulled out the cloth he'd found in the alley where they'd met Ed and handed it to Grissom. "It matches what our guy was wearing. Judging from how it looks, I'd say it's been there for about three or four weeks."

Grissom looked at the cloth. "So he's been here." He glanced nervously over at Ed, even though he was positive he would have heard if Ed had been found by this guy.

Ed scowled. "Too bad we weren't in town."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Ed, do you have a death wish?"

"Pfft. I could easily beat him."

"Like you did last time?"

Ed blushed. "I've gotten stronger since then!"

"He's probably been toughened up by prison life," Grissom retorted.

"I could still beat him."

Grissom sighed and shook his head. Yep, Ed was still stubborn…

"So. What's the plan for tonight?"

Ed pointed to the doorway. "Your room's right across from this one."

Greg got up, walked across the hall, and opened the door to the other room. "But there's only one bed in there," he said as he turned back to the others.

"Eh? I thought there were supposed to be two!"

"Nope, I just see one."

Ed looked up at Al and shrugged. "We can just switch. Al doesn't need a bed anyway."

Al shook his head. "No. Your bed's a mess, so you have to stay here."

Grissom sat down on the unused bed with a sigh. "Okay. I'll stay in here, and Greg gets his own room. Does that work?"

Ed shrugged. "That's fine with me."

"Sure," Greg answered before picking up his CSI kit and walking across the hall. "See you in the morning."

-----------------

Ed was already asleep by the time Grissom was ready to go to bed. Not surprisingly, the teen had sprawled out on his bed, his stomach exposed and his limbs dangling off the side of the bed. Grissom took note of this as he sat down on his own bed.

"Well, I see he hasn't changed much," he remarked to Al, who was trying to cover Ed with a blanket without waking him up.

"I should just leave him and let him freeze," Al muttered crossly. "But then he'd be sick _and_ he wouldn't have learned his lesson."

Grissom chuckled. "I always had a feeling you'd be the responsible one."

"It wouldn't be so bad if he weren't so high maintenance," Al said as he flipped Ed onto his back. "Sometimes I wonder if he's really the older one."

"If I hadn't met you back then, I'd think you were the older one."

Ed twitched in his sleep. Al groaned. "Just don't tell brother that. He'd take it as an attack on his height."

"He seems the type to take anything as an insult to his height," Grissom replied.

Al shook his head sadly. "You have no idea."

Ed shifted in his sleep, rolling over onto his left side, facing Grissom. He looked incredibly peaceful at the moment, a sharp contrast from the last time Grissom had seen him. "Does he still have nightmares?" Grissom asked.

"I think he'll always have dreams about it. If I could sleep, I probably would, too," Al replied. "But it's not as bad as it was."

"That's good. He has enough to deal with anyway."

"Mm. He said he told you what happened."

"He did."

"It's getting late…" Al muttered awkwardly before standing up. "I'm going to talk to someone downstairs…"

"Yeah. See you in the morning."

Once Al had left the room, Grissom walked over to Ed's bed and knelt down beside it. Ed's breathing had quickened slightly, and his face wasn't as peaceful as it had been minutes earlier. It looked as if he were having another nightmare, and Ed confirmed it when he let out a low groan.

"Hey, Ed," Grissom said, seeing if it would wake the alchemist up.

"No…" Ed muttered. Grissom watched as Ed's body began to tense. "Leave me alone…"

Grissom sighed. He didn't want to have to listen to this. He called Ed's name once more, and when he didn't get a response, he grabbed Ed by the shoulder and shook him awake.

Ed looked slightly disoriented when he saw Grissom looking down at him. "Is it time to go already?"

"No. You were snoring."

"Oh." Ed closed his eyes again, obviously too tired to even bother with a normal conversation. "Sorry about that."

A minute later, Grissom was in bed, the lights off in the room and the curtains blocking out the light from the street below. Ed was sound asleep, and soon enough, Grissom was too.

-------------------

As if the sounds of a giant suit of armor walking around the room wasn't enough to wake Grissom up, he also heard Al talking to his brother, in a vain attempt to wake up the sleeping teen. Grissom quickly got up and got dressed before going over to wake Greg up.

The younger CSI was already up when Grissom knocked on the door, and soon after, Ed finally managed to drag himself out of bed. Once the alchemist was dressed, Grissom noted that he was missing the usual outfit. The black leather pants and flashy red jacket were gone for the moment, replaced by a white collared shirt and a less flashy pair of black pants. In this outfit, Grissom mused, the kid almost looked normal.

If he ignored the eyes, the hair, and the lack of height.

"Mustang said I have to report to him before we leave today," Ed stated as he packed up the rest of his belongings. "So we'll go over there before we head to the station. It's on the way."

"Sounds like a plan," Grissom said as they walked down the hallway, heading out of the hotel and going straight toward the gigantic military structure. Grissom noted that everyone there seemed to be very respectful towards Ed, most likely because of his rank. It was strange. Ed probably held more power than Grissom did.

Ed tripped twice on the way to Roy's office. The first time, Grissom had tried not to laugh, but the second time, the CSI began to worry. Was this normal? Of course, the last time Grissom had seen Ed, the kid could barely walk at all, but that was two years ago, and the doctor had said Ed's ankle would heal normally.

While Ed spoke to Roy, Grissom and Greg found themselves talking to Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc, the blonde soldier who had given them a ride to headquarters the day before. The colonel had compiled a list of things that the two foreigners needed to know in order to not look like complete outsiders, and as Grissom looked it over, he found himself gaining still more respect for Mustang.

"So, what's it like to be outranked by a kid?" Greg asked as they waited.

"Eh, you get used to it," Havoc answered. "Besides, it's never really an issue. In the past three years, I've seen Fullmetal pull his rank once, maybe twice. He's never taken advantage of anyone. In fact," Havoc continued. "He's the first State Alchemist to have a good reputation among the people."

"Really?"

Havoc snuffed out his cigarette on a tray on his desk. "He's always been surprising like that. I heard he pointed a spear at the Fuhrer when he was taking the qualification test."

"He tried to kill _Hitler?_" Greg practically yelped. Grissom and Havoc both stared at the young CSI, and Greg turned red. "Sorry. I heard wrong. I don't know where that came from. Heh heh heh…"

Just then, Al waved to the two CSIs from the doorway, and they took that as their signal to leave. Grissom and Greg said their farewells to Havoc before walking out into the hallway, where Ed and Roy were waiting.

"The train leaves in an hour. That should be enough time to get over there," Roy said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not stupid enough to miss a train, Colonel Moron," Ed muttered, just before he tripped and landed flat on his face. However, Grissom hadn't seen Ed trip this time. It was as if his left leg had just given out…

"Graceful, Fullmetal," Roy said. "You know what? I've changed my mind. Before you go to Central, you're stopping in Resembool. I'd rather not have you embarrass me in front of the higher-ups."

Ed scowled. "Since when do I care about your reputation?"

"Since I have the power to get you court-martialed."

Ed looked as if he wanted to explode, but he simply gave a curt nod. "Fine. If you want to play dirty then I'll follow your precious orders," the alchemist practically hissed before storming off.

--------------------

"Why does he want you to stop in Resembool?" Greg asked as they sat in the unmoving train.

Ed sighed. "Because I need to see my mechanic."

"Your mechanic…? Oh! Yeah. That makes sense."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Anyway, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you again. I swear, she gets obsessed with the weirdest things…"

"Who is this?" Grissom asked.

"Winry," Ed answered before leaning against the windowsill. "I just hope she doesn't try to kill me over this…"

"I'm sure you'll be fine."


	11. Chapter 11

And… since I completely blanked on one of the scenarios given to me, here it is.

WolfChibi-Chan:

Shinobi (ninja) pop in randomly and save everyone from the homunculi.

The shinobi are actually the one group Akatsuki from Naruto and they only get rid of the homunculi so that they can do their various misdeeds in Amestris… Hey, give me a break, I can't think of anything more creative! -sigh- okay, how about this: Everything that happens in my FMA/Naruto crossover. YAY! I can recycle material! XD

And just another reminder, this is based on the manga, so Ed and Al won't be fated to be sucked into the plothole of doom and spend the rest of their lives in early 20th Century Europe. Along with many other differences.

-----------------

Other than the constant grumblings of Ed and the occasional comments made by passerby, the train ride to Resembool was a pleasant one. As they exited the train and made their way to the Rockbell home, Grissom could see that Ed really had grown up in seclusion. The small village was very spread out, and Grissom was surprised to see how big the Rockbell house was. But then again, they probably had a lot of rooms for patients and such…

As they approached the building, Grissom saw a teenage girl sitting on the front steps, using a wrench on something and occasionally glancing fondly at a large dog sitting next to her. Grissom noted that the dog's left forepaw was the same kind of prosthetic as Ed's, except it was, well, made for a dog instead of a human.

That made him hope that Sara would think to take care of his own dog.

"Winry!" Al shouted as they got closer. The girl looked up at the sound of her name, and smiled when she saw the four approaching.

"Al! Ed! What are you doing here?" she asked as the brothers approached.

"Eh, the usual…" Ed muttered, moving his right arm up in what looked like a defensive stance.

"You broke it again?"

"No! Well, maybe… I dunno, my leg's just being funny."

"Funny how?"

"It stops working at random…"

Winry sighed, grabbed Ed by the braid, and began walking to the front door. "So you did break it again. Sheesh." She opened the door and was about to walk through when she looked back. "Oh, you have friends?"

Ed took this opportunity to get out of Winry's grasp and stepped out of her reach. "Yeah. You've met one of them before, remember?"

Winry looked curiously at the two men before her eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh!"

-------------------

"Well, it looks fine to me," Pinako Rockbell said as she looked up from Ed's semi-disassembled leg. "Are you sure it's not just you being clumsy?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Ed muttered crossly. "Could it be something else?"

Pinako looked at Ed's flesh leg. "Let's see your other leg. It might be that you've gotten taller."

Grissom didn't miss the excited spark of hope in Ed's eyes. Ed willingly lifted his right leg and waited for Pinako to measure the two. Sure enough, his right leg was about an inch and a half longer.

"Well, I think that explains it," Pinako said. "Your footing is uneven."

"Well, how about that?" Ed shouted so that Winry could hear in the other room. "It _isn't_ broken!"

"Keep it down, Ed! I'm trying to work!" Winry shouted back.

"Anyway, we'll probably have it done by tomorrow afternoon, but it can be faster if you're in a hurry." Pinako looked up at Grissom at this last sentence.

"No rush," Grissom said.

"All right. I'll get right on it." Pinako pulled out the automail leg and attached a less advanced prosthetic before measuring Ed's flesh leg and leaving the room. Ed sighed and pulled his pants back on before looking at Grissom.

"I thought you'd want to get out of here as soon as possible," he remarked as he replaced his shoes.

"Well, I thought I'd give Greg some time to gloat," Grissom replied as Greg walked into the room. The younger CSI walked straight up to the board that held the photos.

"My, doesn't this look familiar?"

"Yes, it does look familiar, Greg. You were right, I was wrong, and I bet you feel so happy right now," Grissom answered.

"Of course I do! All those years of you people giving me funny looks, all those days where you didn't believe me because I had 'some alternate universe theory,' all of that and I was right. Me, the lowly lab rat. The-"

"Will you shut up? You're distracting me!" came a shout from the next room, and Ed snorted.

"You shouldn't bother Winry while she's working. It can get dangerous," Ed remarked as he stood up and made his way to the front door.

"Where are you going?" Grissom asked.

"To visit my mom," Ed replied before shutting the door.

---------------

"He's been gone for a while…" Winry muttered, resting her head on a wrench as she looked out the window. It was late afternoon, about an hour after Ed had left to visit his mother's grave. Grissom looked out the window as well, but there was nobody walking down the dirt path that led to the Rockbell's front door.

"Are you worried?"

Winry looked up at Grissom with some surprise before almost pouting. "Of course not. I just need to get another measurement, but _no_, he just _had_ to leave right now." Winry sighed as she went back to the work table. "I'll have to charge him extra for making my job more difficult."

Grissom looked back out the window. "You know, he's done that to me too."

There was a pause. "Back then…"

Grissom looked over at Winry, who seemed to be frozen in place. "What was that?"

Winry went back to working on Ed's leg, a distant look in her eyes. "After my parents were killed, up until the funeral, I don't think Ed ever left my side unless he had to. And then when he and Al were gone the next morning…" Winry fell silent for a minute. "I was so afraid I'd never see them again. It was even worse than hearing that my parents had died, because if we'd lost them, then we really wouldn't have any family left. And then the military went and said they wouldn't do anything about it, even though they were the only ones who had the _authority_…" Winry's voice was filled with a certain amount of spite, something that didn't surprise Grissom one bit.

"You know, one of the things Ed said to me when we first met was that the military here never protects anyone. Is that still how it is?"

"Usually. Although the people in East City aren't as bad as the rest." Winry put down her tools and looked up at Grissom. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you in person. Really, I don't know how I could ever repay you for letting them come home."

If Grissom had had any doubts about taking this job, those words would have immediately expelled them. It was less often than he'd like that he found live victims, and the sincere, overwhelming gratitude in Winry's eyes made everything he'd had to put up with in this case more than worth it. He smiled.

"You don't ever have to worry about paying me back," he said as he headed to the door.

------------------

The small town of Resembool was different from what Grissom had imagined it to be. Due to the strange nature of Ed and Al's first appearance, Grissom had formed the idea that Resembool was full of secretive people who cursed the military at all opportunities. Of course, he'd realized that he was probably way off, but the idea was still in his mind.

Instead, the people of Resembool were friendly, and any that Grissom passed by on his way to the small cemetery seemed to be resisting the urge to engage the CSI in a full-fledged conversation. Grissom was grateful for this, because while he didn't mind speaking to these people, he did have a goal in mind.

He easily recognized the blonde figure standing in front of one of the graves as he entered the small cemetery. Ed didn't seem to notice Grissom, because after a moment, he turned and walked away from the CSI, stopping in front of two nearby graves.

Grissom looked at the grave Ed had been standing in front of. The name was Trisha Elric, a detail that Grissom had already known. What was more surprising to Grissom was the flowers that seemed to have just bloomed in front of the headstone. He looked back over at Ed, who was now kneeling in front of the graves. Grissom watched as Ed brought his hands together before lightly touching each on one of the two graves. The typical alchemical light grew from underneath Ed's hands, and in a moment there were similar flowers to the ones in front of Trisha's grave.

Grissom was about to announce his presence to the young alchemist when Ed got up again and continued walking. Grissom trailed behind him to the edge of the cemetery, and beyond that to a nearby hill. Grissom saw that the top of the hill had a dead tree standing on it. It looked as if it had been burnt. The explanation for this came when Grissom saw the remains of what could only have been Ed's house.

"You never mentioned that you don't have a home anymore," Grissom said as he finally caught up with the alchemist.

Ed started and looked over his shoulder at Grissom. "What are you doing here?" he asked curiously as Grissom walked to Ed's side.

"I thought that maybe you'd gotten lost. And considering how small this town is, that would have been pretty pathetic."

"Oh, real funny," Ed muttered as he stepped forward. "I've just had a lot to think about."

"Why did you burn it down?" Grissom asked.

Ed placed a hand on the tree trunk, his back toward Grissom. "There's no telling what'll happen to us, you know? I figured that if we have nothing to return to, we won't lose our drive and give up. There's no turning back for us now."

"Have you thought about what you'll do if you can't find a way?" Grissom asked.

Ed leaned against the tree and slowly sank to the ground. "No. I've tried considering it, but I just can't imagine what would happen if we failed. I mean, it's no big deal for me, since I have automail and a good mechanic, but for Al…"

"An empty life isn't much better than no life at all," Grissom finished. "Is that what you're thinking?"

Ed pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "Yeah."

"That's why he has you."

Ed was silent for a moment. "Even so… there's only so much I can do for him."

"There's only so much anyone can do for someone else. As long as you do what you can, that's all anyone can ask of you."

Ed stared at the ruins of his old house for a while before speaking again. "I dragged Al into this. The least I could do is fix things for him."

"As long as you don't lose yourself in the process."

Ed gave Grissom a curious look before shaking his head, a wry smile on his face. "No. Every time I've come close, Al has turned into the unrelenting overprotective mother. And you know, when a seven-foot-tall suit of armor is forcing you to do something, you do it."

"What, are you afraid of your own brother?" Grissom asked teasingly as Ed stood up.

"No! I just know when to surrender."

-----------------

When the sun rose, it had a hard time shedding light on the small town of Resembool. Everywhere Greg looked, there was fog. Not just any fog, either, but the kind that made you feel like you were soaked if you just walked outside. And so, he stayed inside.

Ed was still asleep when Greg went to get him to come down for breakfast. The CSI was surprised to see how hard it was to wake him up, and after about a minute, he returned to the kitchen in defeat.

Upon seeing this, Winry stood up and stormed upstairs. Ed came down five minutes later, completely awake and not in his sleep clothes. Greg had to admit, Winry had power over the alchemist.

The morning passed fairly peacefully, the sun soon burning through the mist and warming up the valley. To keep himself occupied, Greg accompanied Al to the main area of town to run some errands. He still couldn't believe Al had become so different, even if it was just an outer appearance. Everyone noticed Al.

They returned to the Rockbell house just as Winry finished up Ed's leg. She sat him down in a small room, getting ready to connect the limb as Ed waited with a look of dread on his face. Greg was about to comment on it when the connection was made. The look of sheer agony that flashed on Ed's face was a good enough explanation for him.

"Still not used to it, huh, Ed?" Winry asked as she began replacing the outer plating.

"Who _could_ get used to that?" Ed shot back as he tested his limb.

"Well, with all the bragging you do about how you're so strong, you'd think that you could at least deal with a little pain once in a while."

"Hey! I don't brag!"

"Of course not," Winry said sarcastically as she put away her tools. "That's why everyone in the east has heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist, just because of your _astounding_ modesty. Yep, you don't brag at all."

"What the- Your argument doesn't even make sense!"

Greg decided to leave the room at this point in time, before things really got ugly. When Ed came out of the room with a wrench-shaped indent on his head, he was glad he had left when he did.

"Looks like your mechanic had some technical difficulties," Greg remarked, pointing at Ed's head.

"She's evil," Ed muttered darkly. "She needs to be stopped."

"Uh-huh. How's your leg?"

"Seems fine. I guess I need to get my arm redone too, but that can wait. Winry made it longer last time, so it's still going to be a while before the difference affects how I do things."

Greg nodded. "Uh-huh. So, what now?"

"I'm gonna do a performance check with Al, and then we'll head out. We still have an hour before the train leaves."

"Performance check?"

"And some sparring. The usual."

Greg blinked. "Okay, then… Have fun with that…"

Grissom joined Greg as he watched the two brothers spar. The two were surprisingly fast, and the way Ed moved reminded Grissom of a cat. He was incredibly flexible, and he could jump higher than Grissom would have expected him to. It was quite intriguing to see.

After a few minutes, Ed was slammed into the ground, and when neither brother moved, Grissom assumed that that was the end. Al had won. Ed didn't comment about it as they walked down the road to the train station, after they packed up and said their farewells to the Rockbells.

----------------

The train ride was quiet in the beginning. Ed and Greg were sleeping, and Al and Grissom were playing cards out of a lack of anything better to do. People passed by, giving the group strange looks, but Al didn't seem to notice. He was probably used to it by now, Grissom mused.

"It's pretty quiet," Al remarked as he dealt out another hand. "Usually there are more people on the trains, but now…"

"Didn't you hear?" came a voice from the seats across the walkway, where a man was reading a newspaper. "There's been several terrorist attacks on this train line in the past week. People are afraid to take this route now, even though nobody's actually been killed yet."

"Really?" Al asked. "What do they want?"

Grissom didn't know what was more surprising, the fact that this train was in danger of being hijacked, or the fact that Al didn't seem to be as shocked as he should be.

"Oh, the usual, freedom for their fellow terrorists, control over the country, et cetera. I would have taken a different train, but-" Whatever reason the man had for not taking another train would be forever unknown to Grissom, because at that moment the sound of a gunshot came from the front of the car. Everyone in the car practically jumped out of their seats, Greg snapped awake, and Ed fell the floor. Everyone turned around to see what had happened.

"Okay, here's the deal. You don't try anything, and we don't kill you," said one of five men standing in a group. "Just sit down, stay quiet, and don't move unless we tell you to."

Ed snorted, and sadly it was loud enough for everyone in the car to hear. The group of terrorists walked down the narrow walkway to the bench where Ed sat next to his brother, and the one who had spoken stuck a gun in Ed's face.

"You got a problem with that, punk?"

Ed narrowed his eyes. Grissom groaned, knowing that Ed was about to do something stupid. "As a matter of fact, I do have a problem, but I don't suppose that matters, does it?"

One of the others looked from Ed to Al, and then to the two CSIs sitting across from them. "What a bunch of weirdos. Hey, Smith, take this kid up front. I don't like his attitude. The armor guy, too. We don't want anything ruining this."

"What about the other two?"

The guy looked the CSIs over again before answering. "They don't look like much. Just let 'em be."

"You heard the man, kiddo. Get up."

Grissom didn't know whether he should intervene or not. If what the man opposite them had been telling the truth, then there wouldn't be a big chance of them killing someone if they could avoid it, so Ed would probably be fine, but on the other hand, it was Ed…

"Hey. I said get up!" Smith grabbed Ed's left arm and roughly yanked him to his feet before pushing the gun into his back. "Now start walking."

Ed looked pissed. Grissom had seen rage in those eyes before, but this was just like a fire that threatened to go out of control, and it seemed like there was plenty of fuel to add to the fire.

"Okay, you too, armor man," another terrorist said, just as there was a loud thump from Ed's direction. Grissom looked, and wasn't incredibly surprised to see Smith on the ground, unconscious from the looks of him, and Ed holding the gun in his right hand, a dangerous smirk on his face that bordered between arrogance and sheer rage.

"_That's_ your skill level?" Ed asked tauntingly, gesturing to Smith. "And here I thought this would be difficult."

"Brother…" Al began.

"Wait, you two are brothers?" one of the terrorists asked.

"Yeah? What's it to you?" Ed growled.

"Then…" the terrorist looked up at Al in shock. "You're the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Sadly enough, Ed's attempt to beat the crap out of the man for making that one fatal mistake ended with him getting tackled to the ground and punched twice in the face. He seemed dazed because of the pain, but he still glared up at his captors from his place on the floor.

"You know how much worse it is when you pick on someone from the State?" Ed growled, wrenching his right hand free and pulling something from his pocket. Grissom recognized the silver pocket watch immediately and decided to sit back and watch. Ed seemed to know what he was doing.

"Oh? You're the Fullmetal Alchemist?" the terrorist sitting on Ed's back asked, twisting Ed's left hand enough that Ed winced. "Then that makes you even more valuable to us."

Before anyone could react, the terrorist dealt a heavy blow to Ed's head, effectively knocking him out as the man got up and grabbed Ed around the waist. Al stood where he was for a moment, apparently conflicted about what he should do, before one of the three remaining terrorists gestured for Al to sit down.

"Don't worry, your bro ain't gonna die. We're just gonna get him to help us."

"With what?"

The terrorist sneered. "I ain't telling you."

And with that, the man went to assist his fallen comrade, leaving the occupants of the car in silence.

----------------

Ed woke up with a major headache, and it took him a minute to get rid of the disorientation that flooded his mind. He blinked a few times before taking in his surroundings. He was on the floor, and judging from the pain in his left wrist, he was tied pretty tightly. Ed looked down at himself. His legs were still free, but his hands were indeed tied down, each to a separate pole that supported some sort of bar behind him.

_I must be in the first class dining car,_ Ed thought as he looked around for any signs of people. _This must be where they're based._

"Oh, finally awake, Major?" came a voice from behind him. Ed looked up to see someone looking at him from over the countertop. He was an ugly old man, muscular and dark with a smirk on his face that didn't seem to want to go away. Ed glared at the man and squirmed, trying to free at least one of his arms. The man laughed and walked around to face Ed directly.

"Give it up, they're too tight for your little body to break free from."

"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" Ed shouted, ignoring the twinge of pain in his head that came from the shouting.

"Oh? Fine then, alchemist."

"What do you want with me?" Ed demanded.

"What do I want? Heh, I want more than you could ever imagine, and you're going to help me get it. Now, then, shall we discuss what you're going to be experiencing in the next few hours?"

Ed narrowed his eyes. "What?"

The man held up a gun and smirked. "We're stopping to make a call at the next station, a small village with only one old guard. Every time Central denies what I want, that's one less bullet in this gun. But don't worry, I like hitting limbs every once in a while. You can just get yourself a matching set of arms."

"And what happens when you run out?" Ed asked, noting the slowing of the train.

"I'll move on. To the next weapon. And trust me, by the time I'm done, only your vital organs will have been spared."

"So that's it. You're not going to kill me?"

The man shrugged. "If you die, then it'll be from the blood loss, something that you could easily avoid if you get help."

"Key word there being 'if,'" Ed retorted.

"Exactly. Well, by that time, we will no longer be on this train, so I'm sure _someone_ will find you."

"And you do realize that Central won't give a damn about what happens to me as long as I'm still alive in the end."

"You know what, kid? I don't like your attitude. And obviously, you understand nothing. You _will_ be worth them agreeing to at least some things, and they ain't gonna risk your pathetic life if they can help it. No, you're going to be a very valuable asset, kid. In fact," the man continued, his face contorted into an eerie grin. "I might just keep you for a while afterwards. Have a little fun."

As the train finally came to a stop, Ed found himself pulling as hard as he could against the restraints on his right hand. This guy was a pervert. Ed could hear it in his voice, see it in his eyes. It was terrifying, and at the same time infuriating. No, after being stuck with _that_ man on two separate occasions, Ed knew lust when he saw it, and he wasn't in the mood for _anyone_ to get his hands on him.

"Well, now, we're here," the man said, looking out the window. "I guess I'll have to take you outside for this. Pity, I thought the phone would be closer, but-"

Ed had finally broken free of his restraints, and he cut the man off with a punch to the face. He hit the man a few more times with his automail fist before tripping him and using alchemy to secure him to the floor. Then he glanced out the train window. The lone guard was asleep, oblivious to the danger that was lurking a mere twenty feet away from him. Ed looked beyond that to the town. Nothing. He would have to keep the train moving if he wanted military help, which meant…

"First thing's first," Ed muttered to himself as he made sure the lead terrorist was indeed unconscious. "Time to reclaim the engine car."

----------------

"Think he'll be okay?" Greg whispered as they waited for the train to continue moving.

"He'll be fine," Al whispered back after one of the terrorists was out of hearing range. They seemed to like patrolling the walkway, even though it was painfully obvious that Al was the only one who posed a threat to them. Both CSIs knew that they were outmatched.

At that moment, the train started moving again, startling the passengers and their 'guards.' Grissom took note of the men's bewilderment. Obviously things weren't going to plan.

"What the hell? The train's not supposed to start just yet!" One exclaimed, looking out the window. "What's going on?"

"See? Judging by how surprised they are, they must have been pretty sure of themselves, meaning someone really put an effort into fighting back," Al whispered.

"So Ed's fine," Grissom concluded.

"Huh? How do you get that?" Greg asked, forgetting to lower his voice. Sadly, one of the terrorists heard him, and the four now approached the group, guns raised.

"Didn't we say to be quiet?" one asked, his gun pointing straight at Greg's head.

Al stood up, blocking Greg from the man's view. "You know, there's really no reason to be pointing that at him," he said, his voice spewing quiet innocence, almost completely hiding the anger that also emanated from the armor.

"Shut up!"

There were several screams as the gun went off, but surprisingly enough, the bullet hadn't even pierced Al's armor. Instead, Grissom assumed it had ricocheted and hit the shooter, because he was now screaming and clutching his leg. This caused several more guns to be fired at Al, followed by three more men lying on the ground and clutching various body parts. Al simply shook his head in resignation.

"They never get it," Al muttered before approaching the final terrorist. The man dropped his gun in fright and slowly backed away from the approaching armor. Finally, the man let out a scream similar to the one that Grissom had heard from Greg earlier that week and ran for the door. Al easily caught him and transmuted a cage around him.

"Whoa," Greg gasped. "You just took out five guys in like a minute!"

"Al, do you have a plan?" Grissom asked.

"Something along those lines," Al replied as he knelt down next to one of the terrorists and drew a transmutation circle on the ground with chalk. He transmuted bandages for each of the four wounded before tying them up and placing them somewhere out of the way. "Can you make sure these guys don't try anything?"

Grissom nodded, and Al waved as he made his way to the next car.

"Wait a minute," Greg said as they walked up to the front of the car. "Is it just me, or does it seem like they've done this before?"

Grissom shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if they have."

-- --- .-. … . / -.-. --- -.. . / .-.. --- .-..

About half an hour later, Ed returned to the car and collapsed on an empty seat with a heavy sigh, his head resting on the armrest and his arm covering his eyes. Grissom let Greg watch the prisoners on his own while he walked over to see what Ed was doing.

"Hey. What's going on?"

"There's not much to do now other than wait for the train to arrive in Central. It's the next stop, so it's not far," Ed mumbled.

"Where's Al?"

"There's another big group in one of the cars up front that includes the leader. Al's guarding them. The rest of them are scattered through the train. They won't be moving for a while."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Did you have fun?"

Ed scowled. "You know, it lost all excitement after about the fifth time it happened. If there's one thing you can expect in this country, it's train hijackings."

"So… how many times have you had this happen to you?"

Ed curled up into a ball as much as he could, using his jacket as a pillow. Grissom got the feeling that Ed was tired. "Dunno. Lost count."

"Hey, Ed, are you feeling okay?" Grissom asked, aware of all the people around them that were staring at the small alchemist.

"I got whacked in the head. How do you think I feel?" Ed snapped before covering his head with his arms.

One of the nearby passengers hesitantly stood up and approached the two. "Excuse me, I'm a doctor…"

"Go 'way," Ed mumbled into his arms. Grissom sighed and forcefully pulled Ed into a sitting position, ignoring the poisonous glare Ed threw at him in return.

"Ed, this could kill you if you ignore it," Grissom said. "Just put up with it, okay?"

Ed scowled, but he relented, allowing the doctor to examine his head.

"You probably don't remember me, but I've had you as a patient before," the man said. "Something concerning being mauled by a litter of kittens, I believe."

Grissom did his best not to laugh at how red Ed's face was. Ed scowled again, shooting yet another glare at the CSI. "Yeah, I remember. That was a really bad day."

"Well, I think you're slightly better off today," the doctor said. "It's not too bad. Just put some ice on it when we get to Central and it should be fine."

"Thanks," Ed muttered as the doctor walked back to his seat. The alchemist lay back down, a blank look in his eyes. Grissom had the feeling that there was something bothering him that didn't have anything to do with his head injury. He decided he'd ask Ed about it later, though, because the train was finally pulling into Central station.

-----------------

A note for the next chapter: right in the middle of writing this, I decided that in the next chapter, this train ride will have been an overnight ride. Now, obviously this could be confusing to some people, since… this one doesn't mention the overnightness of it all… and since I'm a -beep- -beep- lazy -beeeeeeeeeeeeep- I'm not going to try and rewrite the part that contradicts the overnight part, so just… pretend I'm not lazy and that it all works out, okay? (not that anybody would have noticed anyway…)


	12. random extra

Okay, so since the actual story's coming along a little slowly… (and yes, only a little slowly, since it's been less than a month since the last time I've worked on it…) I got bored and wrote a side story. This was originally going to go into part two somewhere, but I just didn't find room for it, so here it is now.

And no, it doesn't have any relevance to the actual story.

What happened when Brass was watching Ed that one time… (in part two)

Ed looked up when he heard the sound of the door opening and watched as the man who'd been with Grissom when they'd found him walked into the room and sat across from him. He seemed nice enough, but Ed wasn't sure if that would be the case if he hadn't been the victim. For some reason, he was grateful…

"Hi there, Edward," the man said. "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet. I'm Captain Jim Brass."

Ed reached across the table with his automail hand and shook the Captain's briefly before sitting back in his chair. His left arm was aching pretty badly, and he wanted to go to sleep, but when the older man pushed some papers and a pen across the table to him, Ed realized he'd have to wait.

"We need you to fill these out," Brass said.

Ed picked up the first page and looked at it. "What are they?" he asked, his mind not quite comprehending what he was reading.

"Don't you remember filling one out last time?"

Ed blinked before the realization hit him. "Oh! Right…" As he finally understood what was being asked of him, Ed put the paper back on the table and reached for the pen with his left hand. The only trouble was, his fingers were still bandaged.

He paused for a second, looking at both hands. This was quite the conundrum…

"Is something wrong?"

Ed shook his head and reached for the pen with his right hand. He'd heard from Winry that automail had no ability to grasp small objects, but he might as well try, right? Besides, he didn't have much of a choice… And so, he reached up to the small plastic object, placed his fingers around it, and lifted.

The pen didn't come with his hand.

He tried again, this time putting more effort into grabbing the pen, but to no avail. He let out a small, irritated grunt before trying again. This time, he only managed to send the pen rolling across the table.

By this point in time, Ed was cursing all those who were responsible for the birth of small, hard-to-grasp objects. He stood up, intending to reach over the table to grab the object which he desired to obtain, forgetting that his right leg was still very much injured. Ed let out a surprised yelp as he fell to the floor, and after a moment he pushed himself back up to his seat, his face burning in embarrassment.

"Having troubles?" Brass asked, the amusement in his voice obvious to Ed.

"What do you think?" Ed snapped, folding his arms in defeat. This probably wasn't the best first impression… well, second impression, technically, but Ed ignored that detail.

"Can't grip things with your right hand, huh?"

"Not little things," Ed muttered.

"Okay, I guess I can help you fill it out," Brass said, attempting to sound exasperated but failing to disguise the amusement that was still in his voice.

"Thanks."

--------------

And if you didn't notice, yes, the first paragraph is a reference to AkitaFallow's fic. XD

Edit: THE FIRST PAGE OF THE ACTUAL STORY! SINCE AKITAFALLOW SEEMS TO THINK I'M BASHING HER (surprisingly better than mine) UPDATING HABITS I FEEL THE NEED TO EXPLAIN THAT IT WAS A REFERENCE TO THE FACT THAT ED AND BRASS DON'T HIT IT OFF VERY WELL IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF HER FIC! Yeesh.


	13. Chapter 12

"Ed!"

Ed groaned as he looked up to see where the familiar voice was coming from. He'd only just finished dealing with all the official military junk and all he wanted was to go find someplace to hide and get an icepack. He _really_ didn't want to talk to Hughes right now.

Hughes approached the small group from a car parked just outside the station. He had that traditional goofy smile on his face, and Ed could see the corners of pictures sticking out of one his pockets.

"Hey," Ed grunted, giving Hughes a small wave of acknowledgement. He made it a point to look the other way as Hughes introduced himself to the two CSIs and greeted Al.

"What's with you?" Hughes asked teasingly. "Not happy to see me?"

"He hit his head," Grissom intervened, much to Ed's relief.

"Really? Why are you just sitting around here, then?" Hughes asked.

"Because those stupid morons don't understand what the words 'I have a headache and I need to do something about it as soon as I can' mean," Ed snapped irritably, gesturing to the high-ranking officials nearby. "We just got done here."

"That's too bad. I was going to bring you guys to my house for dinner tonight, but if it's that bad, then I guess you can't come…" Ed almost felt guilty when he heard the disappointment in Hughes's voice.

"That's okay," Al replied. "He'll probably be fine by then, right, brother?"

Ed did not miss the threat in Al's voice. "Heh… yeah, probably…"

"Great! Oh, you're going to love meeting my little Elysia, she's so sweet and adorable and she's really excited to meet you, it's just so cute and-"

"Headache."

Hughes went back to being a normal adult for a while. "Right. Anyway, I'll drop you guys off at the hotel, and you can just relax today. We'll start on this tomorrow."

"Why not today?" Ed asked.

"Because you're injured," Hughes answered. "Now come on."

Ed had a permanent scowl on his face as they drove through Central. He was squished in the backseat between Greg and his brother, Grissom was in the front, and Hughes was driving. Ed sighed and leaned against his brother, letting the cool metal act as a temporary ice pack.

"How are things going?" Al asked, shifting the armor slightly so that Ed would be more comfortably.

"Not too well," Hughes answered. "One of the victims just turned up, and there's not much of a chance that he'll survive, what with everything that happened to him."

Ed growled. "That damn bastard…"

The car stopped, and Hughes got out first, followed by the rest. "Well, we're here," Hughes said. "I'll come by to pick you up around six. That way you can see Elysia in her pajamas. It's like seeing a little angel covered in duckies!"

Ed could have sworn that he just saw Hughes twirl in ecstasy.

--------------

"Stupid moron bastard terrorists," Ed muttered as Grissom placed the bag of ice on his head.

"Come on, it isn't that bad," Grissom said as he adjusted the icepack. "I'm actually pretty impressed."

"If they hadn't knocked me out then maybe I'd understand why you're so amazed," Ed countered as he closed his eyes. Overnight train rides always got to him, and he just wanted to sleep…

"What happened?" Grissom asked.

"Huh? Oh, you know what happened. The guy in charge tried to use me to make the military give his group things they wanted, but I stopped him."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"What else would there be?" Ed asked, his voice muffled by the pillow. "That bastard was just some creepy, old, stupid, perverted… terrorist. I mean, there's tons of those in this country."

It was quiet for a moment before Grissom spoke again. "Did he do something to you?"

"No," Ed mumbled. "He just looked at me funny, like… yeah, he didn't do anything."

"That's a relief."

Ed grunted. It was quiet for a while. Al and Greg had gone out to get something for lunch, so the two were alone in the room.

"It's funny, though," Ed said after a while. "Ever since all that happened, I've been noticing that kind of thing more and more, and to be honest… it scares me."

"Why does it scare you?"

"There have been one or two times when I've worked with older men in the military, usually the corrupt ones, and I've seen that look in their eyes. I mean, it was never a big deal, I'd just be careful around them and I wouldn't trust them as much as I normally would. But if I hadn't known that some people were like that… I could have put myself into a really bad situation without even knowing it. And I hate to admit it, but… maybe it's a good thing I had to go through all that."

"That's a good way to look at it, Ed, but you have to realize, sometimes it's better to be naïve. It makes it easier to have hope for the world."

Ed buried his head further into the pillow. "It'd take a lot for me to ever have hope for the world again."

"What about for yourselves? Have you gotten any closer?"

Ed opened his eyes and looked up at Grissom. "No. We're looking for something that could help us, but every time we think we'll find it, it just turns out to be a dead end. It's frustrating." Ed rolled onto his back. "I don't know how much more disappointment I can take."

"Have you considered taking a break for a while?"

Ed looked up at the ceiling. "I don't do well with breaks."

"Ed, everyone needs to just stop for a while. That includes you."

"Since when are you such a devoted motivational speaker?" Ed asked, irritation evident in his voice.

"It comes with the job. I need to make sure people like you don't hurt themselves."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed growled threateningly, although his eyes were closing on him. Grissom was amused.

"I'd tell you if you were awake," he said once Ed was asleep, standing up and walking over to the other bed in the room before sitting down and grabbing the newspaper Al had gotten in the lobby. Might as well make himself familiar with the area.

--------------

"So. While you're in my house, I expect you to follow a few rules."

Ed nodded, realizing that he'd better listen if he wanted to survive the night.

"First," Hughes began. "No profanities around my daughter. I don't want her wonderful innocence ruined by such harsh words."

Ed rolled his eyes. Like he was going to swear around a two-year-old anyway…

"Second, don't bring up the case at all tonight. They don't need to hear about that."

Ed shrugged. Made sense…

"Third, if you do _anything_ to hurt my little Elysia…" Maes trailed off, growling menacingly.

Ed immediately nodded. How was it that the overprotective and annoying parents were always the scariest?

"Okay. You can come in now."

Ed wondered why Grissom was the only one who wasn't walking as far away from Hughes as possible as they approached the small house.

---------------

Elysia seemed to be fascinated by Alphonse throughout the evening. Everywhere the armor went, she tried to follow. Grissom wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for the fact that Al obviously felt the same way about the little girl.

"Aw, look, Elysia's just so much in love with your little brother," Hughes said to Ed, his voice oozing with admiration.

Ed rolled his eyes from his seat on the couch. "She's probably looking for a cat," the teen muttered as the odd pair made their way outside. "Is it really okay to wait, though?"

"There's not much we could do today anyway," Hughes said for the fifth time, amazingly not losing his patience with the young alchemist. Grissom was impressed.

"Yeah, but still-"

"You're breaking the rules, Ed."

Ed looked up at Hughes, at first in confusion, but then in fear. "Sorry…"

"Anyway, why don't you go help Gracia? I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Ed let out a sigh as he stood up and walked out of the room. It was probably as obvious to him as it was for Grissom that Hughes was trying to get rid of him, for privacy's sake. Maybe now some of the questions Grissom had in mind would be answered.

Thankfully, Greg got the idea that the older adults were going to be talking about serious matters that didn't necessarily involve him, so he quietly left to go find Al, leaving Grissom and Hughes in the room together.

"I thought it was against the rules to talk about work here," Grissom commented once he was sure nobody else was within hearing range.

"About what's going on at this time," Hughes corrected, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them off with his shirt. "Besides, the details about our culprit are something we can go over tomorrow. This is about Ed himself."

Grissom nodded. "It seems like you've known him for a while."

"I've gone to East City a few times to help the Colonel with some things. He's mentioned you a few times."

"Really? How so?" Grissom asked.

"He likes you more than he likes Mustang," Hughes said. "But that's not necessarily saying much."

Grissom laughed inwardly at this comment. "Yeah, what exactly is it with those two? You can feel the tension in the air from a mile away."

Hughes laughed. "You really can, can't you? And everyone's noticed it except for them." He spared a glance at the kitchen before continuing. "Those two, no matter how much they might deny it, are the same. Both claim to be only interested in their own goals, but they'll drop everything at a moment's notice if someone else needs help. I'm thinking that they'd be great friends if they ever notice that."

Grissom got what Hughes was saying right away. "Key word there being 'if'."

"Exactly."

Grissom looked over toward the kitchen door. "He's doing better than I thought he would. I thought he'd have lost it or given up by now."

Hughes blinked in surprise. "You know what he's doing now?"

"Yeah, he told me last time I saw him."

Hughes leaned back in his chair, a pensive look on his face. "He's come close. He's definitely lost himself a few times, but someone always manages to pull him back before he goes over the edge. Usually in the form of Mustang forcing him to take a break…"

"I take it that doesn't always work as planned, right?"

Hughes shook his head. "It usually ends in disaster for us, but at least it does some good."

Grissom thought about Hughes's words for a moment. Like he'd thought, Ed was really having a hard time, but at the very least, he was in capable hands. He'd probably be fine in the end.

"You worry about him, don't you?"

That question caught Grissom off guard. Sure, he hadn't thought about Ed too often since his tormenter had been put in jail, but whenever the alchemist came to mind, sure enough, worry was always there.

"None of us knew them before it happened, so it's easy to think of him as he is now, but to see kids change so much…" Hughes glanced toward the back door, where Elysia could be seen playing with Al and Greg.

"I don't think I'll be worried after this," Grissom said.

------------

The next day began with Hughes arriving at the hotel with a few files in hand. They assembled in the Elrics' room, sitting around the small table with each person reading a separate file.

Ed was the first to finish, and he placed the papers on the table with an irritated sigh. "Is it just me or is he getting violent?"

Grissom raised an eyebrow at Ed. "He was violent to begin with, remember?"

Ed sighed. "Yeah, but it was gradual. He never did a lot at once, like… like he didn't want to damage his prize too badly."

Hughes nodded. "That's right. Before these cases suddenly stopped for two years, the kids found all over the country that were most likely attacked by this man were found in bad shape, but never bad enough that they could die without immediate medical assistance. Up until then, the one in the worst shape was you, Ed."

Ed frowned. "That one kid wasn't doing so well, was he?"

Grissom shook his head. "No, the first victim that was from Vegas was very severely beaten. They had to keep him unconscious for about a week before he had healed enough to be awake."

"Maybe…" Greg trailed off. He was looking at Ed, who was currently concentrating very hard on his left hand.

"What is it, Greg?" Grissom asked.

"Well, He did say he'd kill Ed last time, so what if he's taking his rage out on these kids?"

"That bastard," Ed muttered.

"Or it could be that he's gotten impatient because he's had to wait so long," Grissom suggested.

"It's probably both," Hughes interjected. "Either way, it doesn't seem like he cares about the consequences anymore."

"He probably thinks that he has nothing to fear from our end," Grissom said. "And then there's the fact that there's no possibility of anyone finding his DNA on any of the victims."

"We could find it," Greg interrupted. "We just need to take it back… to the lab…" Greg let out a sigh. "Okay, scratch that. But I did print out a copy of his fingerprints the other day, so we have that."

Grissom raised an eyebrow at his young employee. "Were you expecting this to happen?"

"I… yes. Yes I was."

Ed snorted. "Well, I guess we can confirm that it's him, but how's that supposed to help us find him?"

"We follow his tracks, Ed," Grissom answered. "Obviously he likes things to happen a certain way in a certain environment, so there's bound to be a pattern in his behavior."

There was a knock on the door, and Al stood up to open it. A concierge stood in the doorway. "There is a call for Lt. Col. Hughes."

Hughes blinked and stood up. "Yeah, thanks," he said, following the man out. Al sat back down, and a silence overcame the room.

"So…" Al began after a minute or so. "About the pattern, would it be different from last time because he's in a different environment?"

"It's hard to say," Grissom answered. "The statement from the first victim says that he was in a dark, cold, empty building, so it's probably changed."

Ed frowned. "Now that I think about it, it definitely seems more rushed with these kids, so maybe he isn't bothering to set up the same kind of place. He just… wants to finish up with his victims…"

"You doing okay, Ed?" Grissom asked.

"I'm fine," Ed muttered irritably.

At that moment, Hughes returned to the room, a resigned look on his face. "We have another victim. Apparently this time… it wasn't worth it to return him to his family."

Ed was the first standing, and it was only Al's hand that prevented him from going straight to the crime scene without a second thought. He glared at Al, but Grissom could tell that Ed was going to follow his brother's unspoken advice and be patient.

"Anyway," Hughes continued. "There isn't anything you can do to help this time, Ed, so you two are staying here."

"What?" Ed asked incredulously. "Why?"

"Like I said, you can't help this time, and last time I checked, Mustang told me to court-martial you if you don't follow my orders. You're staying here."

Ed sat down, anger still obvious in his face, and Grissom and Greg got up and walked to the door.

"See you later," Greg said, giving the brothers a small wave. Al returned the gesture, but Ed was too distracted to see it. As Grissom got their kits from their hotel room, he couldn't help but wonder if Mustang had really made the right decision.

---------------

"So, this is the kind of technology we could have in a hundred years, huh?" Hughes asked, envy evident in his voice.

"Yep," Greg answered as he began taking photos of the body. Grissom was dusting for prints nearby.

"Not that it'll do much good without the lab," Grissom added.

"True, but at least we have a way to tell if this is our guy," Greg said.

Hughes was leaning down next to the body, his face emotionless. "Another blonde. Great, now someone gets to tell his parents that he was killed because he looks like someone else." Hughes paused and looked up at Grissom. "Does Ed know?"

"Nobody's told him, but he might have figured it out on his own," Grissom answered as he knelt down next to the body as well. "Well, looks like he was raped, and I'd say that the COD was blunt force trauma."

"Hey, I found some clothes over here," Greg called from his current position. "Looks like they're our vic's."

"Check for tear marks," Grissom said. "There's fabric in this gash. He might have been stabbed through his shirt."

Greg quickly inspected the fabric. "Yep, there's a tear, surrounded by bloodstains. Looks like he was stabbed before he was raped."

Hughes narrowed his eyes. "Ed was right. Our guy's getting more violent."

------------

Surprisingly, there was a bare footprint in the dirt outside. Greg photographed it before they left, and they went through the evidence at military HQ.

"Well, the fingerprints I lifted match," Grissom said. "So there's no doubt that it's the same guy now."

Hughes frowned. "What are the odds that he goes after Ed?"

"If he knows where Ed is, then pretty good," Grissom replied. "But Ed's almost fifteen now, and is only a possible target because of past incidents. There's a small chance that our guy's lost interest in him."

"I doubt that," Greg said. "Unless it's a coincidence that he's developed an attraction to small blondes with light brown eyes."

Hughes narrowed his eyes. "That's right. In the beginning, not all of the victims had light hair, but after the first encounter with Ed and Al, the amount of blondes has increased."

"And Ed's still pretty small, so he probably still fits the criteria," Greg added. "Shouldn't we have someone watching him?"

"Al's enough for now," Hughes said. "And I'll have someone watch him without him knowing."

Greg sighed and sat down in one of the chairs around the table. "Now what?"

Grissom began putting his equipment away. "We look for him."

-----------------

"This is stupid," Ed muttered for about the fifth time since the others had left.

"Brother, don't say that. The Lieutenant Colonel is only trying to help."

"Al, someone _died_ because of that bastard, and all we're doing is sitting around and waiting for the grown-ups to do their job! He's just being overprotective!" Ed snapped.

"Even if he is, we're already helping by just getting those two over here to help," Al said calmly, wishing that his brother would calm down.

"We can do more than that," Ed said, making his way over to the window.

"Brother, if you try climbing out through the window, I swear I'll never talk to you again," Al warned.

Ed paused. "Why are you so against me going, Al?"

"Because I'm your brother."

"What kind of reason is that? Al, this means something to me."

"What about getting our bodies back?"

Ed turned to face his brother. "Al…" He sat down on his bed with a sigh. "This guy's hurting innocent people. He's hurting _kids_, for crying out loud! You didn't experience his more aggressive side. Even I got lucky, Al. Listen." Ed looked up into his brother's eyes. "Getting you back to normal means more to me than anything right now, but we're just two people. This guy's hurt over thirty different kids at the very least, from what Hughes could find, and he will hurt others. He needs to be stopped." Ed let out a deep sigh. "Besides, you saw how much it hurt Winry when her parents didn't come back. That kid's family has to feel the same way."

"I know, brother." Al walked up to the bed and sat next to Ed. "But if you just go running out there, you could get hurt, and then how would you accomplish either goal?"

Ed let out another sigh and fell back on the bed. "You're right, Al. But even so… there has to be _something_ we can do…"

"Mmm."

They sat in silence for a while. Ed was about to fall asleep when there was a knock on the door, and he pointed to Al. "You get it."

Al let out an exaggerated sigh and stood up. "You're really getting lazy, brother," he said as he walked to the door and opened it. Grissom was at the other side.

"What happened?" Al asked as he stood aside to let him in.

"We found the guy's fingerprints, and Greg got a footprint that's probably his," Grissom said. "And he's definitely getting more violent. Hughes and Greg are checking out empty warehouses at the moment to see if there's any sign of him."

"That's nice," Ed muttered.

"Even better," Grissom continued. "He's probably going to come after you again."

"Good."

Both Al and Grissom rolled their eyes, but only Grissom's gesture was visible. "Anyway, here's how you can be useful. If there's anything you can think of that might tell us where he's more likely to hide, then say it," Grissom said.

Ed let out a deep breath before falling into silence. It was like that for a few minutes before the alchemist spoke.

"It might not help to determine where he'd hide, but he said once, briefly, that he never did anything to his victims while they were unconscious. Something about not being his style." Ed's voice suddenly became extremely bitter. "I guess he wanted them to feel the pain."

"So if he beats them badly enough for them to lose consciousness, then he'd have to find someplace secluded enough for that," Grissom said.

"Yeah. He never tried anything after he injured me, either. I don't remember if he said something about that or not, but I guess it went against his 'system,'" Ed continued.

Grissom didn't say anything at this. It was quiet in the room, and Ed was about to question Grissom when another noise interrupted him.

It was easy to say that Ed and Grissom were startled. Grissom looked around, trying to find the source, and Ed looked directly at his brother after a moment. Grissom looked from Ed to Al and back again, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Al…" Ed growled dangerously.

"W-what, brother?" Al asked nervously.

"Why did you just meow?"

"Umm… because…."

"Get rid of it."

"Brother! That's mean!"

"You know we can't have pets, so why did you pick it up in the first place?"

"It's injured, brother!"

"Then take it to a vet or something!"

"But it's a stray, brother. They would have killed him."

Ed's face softened a little, and he let out a sigh. "Fine. Take it to a vet, say it's yours, and keep it until it's healed. But _only_ until it's healed."

"Thank you, brother!"

Grissom felt very bad for Ed after that. It was a miracle that Ed wasn't impaled by his brother's hugs.

----------------

I have an announcement to make. Due to the cliffhanger in the most recent chapter of FMA (76), I'm putting all fics on hiatus because it's SO DAMN HORRIBLE OH GOD PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT'S THE END SGFHDGJFHGHDGTSRTGFHGDSTGFH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I won't say what happened because it's a spoiler, but I'm still just ASHDFGJHDGSFAGFHGGFHG and I don't think I'll be in the writing mood for a while. T.T

But, in a few days, I'm sure I'll be over it enough to continue, so it's pretty much a 5-day delay… or something.

OH MY GAWD AAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH NOVEMBER 12th IS NOT GOING TO COME SOON ENOUGH!!!!! -dies-

EDIT: I think I'm over it now… I just love exaggerating to death, so... hope you enjoyed my explosion of insanity. And the chapter. XD


	14. Chapter 13

Dude, I don't have my evening class tonight! I CAN WATCH CSI FOR ONCE:D

----------------

There was a deep silence that evening while Al was off taking care of the cat. Ed was lying sideways on his bed, his head dangling off the side and his feet against the wall. The best word Grissom could use to describe the alchemist was bored.

It was becoming more and more obvious that Ed was a man of action, not suited to sit around and wait for anything. Of course, Ed wasn't doing anything at the moment, but Grissom could understand why forcing Ed to take a break often ended in disaster. There was no way the anger emanating from Ed's tiny body could be mistaken for anything else.

"Shouldn't he have gotten back by now?" Ed suddenly asked, tilting his head slightly to face Grissom.

"Who?"

"Greg. I haven't seen him since this morning."

"He's in the other room."

Ed scowled. "Then why are you in here?"

"Do you want me to leave?"

Ed pulled himself up so that his head was on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I don't care."

"Okay, suit yourself," Grissom said before picking up that day's paper and beginning to read it.

Ed shot Grissom another glare before dropping his legs and curling up on his side, his back to the room. "This is pointless. Why did he tell me to come when I can't even do anything?"

"Would you have come here if he hadn't told you to?"

Ed spared a glance in Grissom's direction before turning back to the wall. "Probably."

"You know what's going on now. Doesn't that count for something?"

Ed flopped onto his stomach, grabbed his pillow, and pulled it over his head with a grunt.

"Ed?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"How's your head?"

It took a moment for Ed to respond. "Fine."

"You know, you could have avoided getting involved in the first place."

"How could I have? They could have hurt innocent people."

"Other people ignored it."

"I'm not like other people," Ed muttered.

"And that's why we came out here."

Ed pulled his head out from under the pillow and gave Grissom a confused look. "What does that mean?"

Grissom honestly had no idea why he'd said that out loud, but he wasn't about to let Ed know that. "What was that?" he asked instead, deciding instead to change the subject to get Ed to forget his anger.

"You heard me," Ed replied with a scowl.

"Not quite. You're going to have to speak louder, Ed. It's hard to understand you."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "It's hard to understand _me_? What about you? At least I don't speak in riddles!"

"I don't speak in riddles."

"'There was never yet philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently,'" Ed recited. "That doesn't exactly sound like normal language to me."

"It's from Shakespeare," Grissom replied.

"Who?"

It took Grissom a minute to realize that Ed would obviously have never heard of Shakespeare, and then he simply shook his head. "He's a famous playwright from a few hundred years ago. Just about every educated person in my world knows about him."

"But I'm not from your world," Ed growled.

"Yes, I know that," Grissom said. "That's why I felt obliged to explain it to you."

Ed rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet.

"Where you going?" Grissom asked.

"Nowhere," Ed replied before slamming the door behind him.

-------------------

"Cooommeeeee break me doowwwwwwwnnn"

There was a knock on the door.

"Bury me, bury me"

The knocking continued.

"I am finished with yooooouuuuuuu"

The knocking turned into pounding. Greg finally heard the noise and went to open the door, pausing his mp3 player as he went. Ed was standing on the other side of the door, a horrified look on his face.

"Oh, hey, Ed, what's up?" Greg asked as he let the blonde into the room.

"What the hell were you doing?" Ed asked, the horror in his face coming out in his voice.

Greg blinked. "Could you hear me?"

"I heard something," Ed muttered. "It sounded like you were dying or something."

"Hey, my singing isn't _that_ bad…" Greg grumbled. "Anyway, what's up?"

Ed shrugged. "I was bored."

"So… do my antics make your life more interesting?" Greg asked.

"Something like that," Ed answered. "Seriously, though, what exactly were you singing?"

"Oh. Here," Greg said, handing his pair of headphones to Ed. The alchemist looked at them for a moment before placing them over his ears. Then Greg pressed play, and Ed let out a surprised yelp and jumped back, landing on his rear a couple feet away. The headphones fell from his ears and dangled a couple of inches above the ground.

"You okay?" Greg asked, honestly concerned about Ed's wellbeing.

"How can you not be deaf by now?" Ed asked. "Jeez!"

"What, too loud for you?" Greg asked.

Ed nodded, catching his breath and standing up. "That was painful."

"Sorry. I'll turn it down."

Ed watched Greg carefully to make sure he did what he said he would before putting the headphones back on. After a minute or so, Ed pulled them off and handed them back to Greg.

"It's weird."

"Huh? What's so weird about it?"

"What kind of instruments are those? I didn't recognize it."

"Oh." Greg put the mp3 player on his bedside table. "It's an electric guitar."

"Why is it so different from a normal guitar?"

"Uh… Well, it's hooked up to an amplifier, which intensifies the sound, I guess…"

Ed blinked. "Ah."

"What'd you think?"

"It was okay, I guess. Kind of depressing, though."

"Yeah, some songs have pretty depressing lyrics."

"I see."

There was an awkward pause for a moment before Greg spoke again. "So… what are you doing here?"

"Like I said, I was bored."

"And you didn't want to talk to Grissom."

Ed blinked. "How…"

"Easy. Grissom is in your room. You're in this room. I'm in this room. Al is off with his kitty."

Ed sighed. "Yeah."

"You know, you could have just asked him to leave," Greg said as they sat down. "He would have."

"Well, yeah, but…" Ed shook his head and stood to leave. "I dunno. Forget it."

"Ed…"

Ed stopped at the door and looked back. "What?"

"Will you teach me?"

"Eh?"

"Alchemy. I kinda want to learn…"

"Right now?"

"Well, when else are we going to get a chance?"

Ed stared at Greg for a moment before relenting. "Fine. We'll have to do it in my room, though. All my books are in there."

"Yeah, sure."

-------------------

As Al returned to the hotel, cat in tow, he noticed that Grissom was standing out in the hallway, reading something as he leaned against the far wall. Al set the animal on his shoulder as he approached the CSI. He heard a crash from inside his and Ed's room.

"What's going on?" Al asked, pointing to the door.

"Alchemy lessons," Grissom answered. "I think your brother's losing his patience."

Al groaned. "Why am I not surprised?"

"How was the vet?" Grissom asked.

"Fine. He should be healed by the end of the week." Al looked back at the door. "Maybe I should go check on them…"

Grissom followed Al into the room, and the two watched as Ed rebuked his student. "No, no, no! You're doing it backwards again!"

"Sorry! How am I supposed to tell the difference between the two?" Greg asked, erasing whatever he'd written.

Ed sighed. "Easy. This," Ed said as he drew something on the paper, "Is for steel. This other one," he continued, drawing another symbol as he spoke, "Is for iron."

"Okay, so I was a little off. How am I supposed to know all these anyway?"

"Oh, please, I could recite the elements when I was eight."

"Okay, then let's hear it."

Ed folded his arms, sat down on the bed, took a deep breath, and began.

"Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen…"

Greg looked up at Grissom and Al with a pained expression. Al wasn't surprised. Ed tended to be a very harsh teacher.

"Okay, Ed, you can stop now," Greg said, but Ed didn't seem to be able to hear him.

"Magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, argon…"

"It's no use," Al said, putting the cat down on his bed. "There's no way to stop him when you get him going."

"Chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel…"

"Well, he's getting them right," Grissom noted.

"And here I thought this would be a good idea," Greg muttered.

"BROMINE, KRYPTON, RUBIDIUM-"

"Shut it, bean sprout!" Al shouted in desperation. Ed seemed to snap out of his trance and scowled at his brother.

"Sorry, brother, but you were getting annoying," Al said.

Ed continued to scowl as he began picking up the books on the table. "Anyway, that's it for now."

"Yeah, great," Greg replied.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before the general feeling of crack wore off on the room.

"Anyway, tomorrow we continue the search," Grissom said. "Which means you need to be up early," he continued, looking straight at Ed.

Ed scowled. "I didn't think you were the type to lecture someone on their sleeping habits."

"Well, that's how things go," Grissom replied as he and Greg left the room. "See you in the morning."

----------------

It was silent as they trudged through the grey streets of Central the next morning. Grissom didn't know whether to be grateful or concerned. On one hand, Ed wasn't ranting. On the other hand, the silence felt almost more dangerous than the rants. It was as if Ed had gone beyond the point of normal anger. If they didn't find the guy soon, Grissom got the feeling that Ed would snap.

They made their way through the industrial area of Central, looking for any signs of the killer, for most of the morning. Around the time when Ed was beginning to complain about the lack of food in his stomach, Grissom found a clue.

"Hey, look at this," he called out to the others. Al, Greg, Ed, and Hughes all gathered around the object that Grissom was crouching over. There on the ground was a length of rope, covered in blood and a few stray hairs.

Grissom pulled on the gloves he had in his pocket and picked up one of the hairs. "It's got a tag," he said. "And it looks like the rest of them do too."

"It's blonde," Ed noted. "So it definitely isn't his own hair."

"…No, it isn't," Grissom agreed, relieved that Ed hadn't made the connection yet.

"So, he's been here with one of his victims?" Al asked.

"Or he's merely getting the evidence away from himself. He probably thinks that since the military has less advanced technology than in Vegas, they're also lacking in competence. He's being even more careless than last time."

"Would he maybe be close by?" Al asked. "What if we're scaring him off by being here?"

"I guess we'll just have to split up into smaller, less conspicuous groups," Hughes said. "Which means…"

Al sighed. "Okay, I'll go find someplace to wait nearby."

"You too, Ed."

Ed looked up with a scowl. "What was that?"

"Either change your hair color or go with Al. You're conspicuous too."

"…Fine. I'll change it." Ed turned on his heel and stormed back the way he came, Al following quietly as usual. Once they were a fair distance away, Grissom raised an eyebrow.

"He's really going to dye his hair because of this," Grissom stated, not quite believing it.

"Isn't he obsessed with his hair?" Greg pondered.

"I wonder when he'll realize that he could just use alchemy on it," Hughes mused.

The two CSIs glanced at the Lieutenant Colonel before looking back at the two figures in the distance. Grissom hated to admit it, but he really got a lot of amusement out of Ed's behavior. No wonder Mustang teased him so much.

-----------------

Ed let out an irritated growl as he and Al walked down the streets of Central, looking for a barber shop. He was at the end of his patience. Not only had he been shooed away by Hughes _again_, but now he had to waste a couple of hours changing his hair color. He didn't think he'd been so frustrated in his life.

"Here's one," Al said, interrupting Ed's silent contemplation. "Try to be nice, though, brother. They'll be determining how good your hair looks for a really long time, after all."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Brother. I mean it."

Ed blinked and looked up at Al. "Y-yeah. I get it, Al. I'll behave."

"Good."

As they sat in the small shop, waiting for the chemicals to have their effect, Ed stared out the window, wondering how the search was coming. There was just so much at stake with this…

He let out a sigh as he went through the information again. That guy would obviously be going after him and Al if he knew where to look for the brothers; That's probably why Hughes had said to change his hair color. That bastard probably knew that Ed was just as ready to kill him as he was to kill Ed. Al would be fine, since he was completely unrecognizable in his current body, which relieved Ed to no end. There was no way he was about to let his brother go through the same thing he'd gone through two years ago.

"_This kid? No, he's not what I'm after."_ What had he been after, then? Was there something else the man wanted, and… using… Ed was just bringing him one step closer? What…

"_I think he liked Al better then. He kept acting like he was comparing us all that time."_

Ed's eyes widened in horror. So that was it. The bastard was more… excited about Al. But then why didn't he go for Al? Why was he obsessed with Ed?

_He must have wanted both of us, and decided to save the best for last,_ Ed thought before feeling bile rise in his throat. Just thinking about it was making him sick.

"Brother?"

Ed somehow managed to get rid of the feeling and looked up at Al. "What is it?"

"You don't look so good. Is your head hurting?"

Ed shook his head. "No, I was just thinking about something… I'm fine, Al."

"Are you sure?"

Ed nodded. "I'm fine."

After Ed's hair was rinsed and finished, Ed paid and exited the building with Al trailing behind, still trying to think of anything that would help them find him. The victims themselves didn't seem to have anything special about them, other than their age and gender. As for how he selected them… Ed shuddered and felt the feeling in his stomach come back. Now that he thought about it, all of the boys he'd seen pictures of had lighter hair. Was that why he and Al had been sought out?

"Brother!"

Ed looked up at Al, his senses on high alert. "What is it?"

"Are you sure you're all right?"

Ed blinked. "Didn't I say I was fine? Don't worry about me, Al."

"Yeah, but…"

"What?"

"Brother, if you saw how you looked just now, you'd know why I'm worried."

Ed stopped in front of a door that had a mirror attached to it and looked at himself. Sure enough, he looked just as bad as he felt. His face was pale, his eyes were very dark, his new brown hair accentuating the color, and he had broken out in a cold sweat at some point while they were walking. As he continued walking, Ed also noted that he seemed to be going slower than usual.

"It's nothing, Al. I'll just go back to the hotel for a while."

"Okay. I'll go back and tell them once you get to bed."

"What, you don't think I'll go unless you're forcing me to?" Ed remarked, feeling suddenly grateful that they were so close to the hotel. His stomach was still betraying him, and all he wanted to do at the moment was lie down. Maybe he wasn't up for this…

_No. I have to find him. There's no way I can just sit around and not do _anything_ to help. This is just a temporary delay. I'll be fine in a few hours._

----------------

Al spent most of the afternoon watching his brother sleep. In the beginning, Ed had disappeared into the bathroom, and Al ended up holding his hair back until everything in Ed's stomach had been expelled. After that, things were rather uneventful as the afternoon passed on, until there was a knock at the door and a concierge informed Al of a phone call for him.

"Hello?" Al said the minute he put the phone to his theoretical mouth and ear.

"Hey, Al, it's Hughes. How's Ed doing?"

"Not so good. He's just been sleeping almost since we got back."

"Did he say anything about being nauseous?"

"Not directly, but he did throw up, so…"

"Then that would be a yes," Hughes finished. "That's what I thought."

"Is it… It's because of what's going on, right?"

"Yeah. He's probably feeling overwhelmed right now, and I don't blame him. It really is disgusting."

"Is there something I can do to help him?"

"Not much. Just be there for him, maybe talk to him about it if it's really worrying you. He'll get over it, though."

"How do you know?"

"Most people in my profession do. The ones who don't switch jobs. Besides, Ed's strong. Once we catch this guy, he'll be fine. Anyway, we're going to head back now. See you soon."

"Okay. Thanks."

As Al entered their room, he wasn't surprised to see Ed stumbling out of the bathroom. He thought about what Hughes had said as he closed the door. Ed would probably force himself to get over it, but that's what worried Al the most. He didn't want to see Ed hurt himself over this. Already, it was becoming painful to watch his brother.

"Hey, Al," Ed muttered as he crossed over to the other side of the room and flopped down on his bed.

"Brother… do you need some water?"

"Uh… yeah, if you wouldn't mind."

"No problem." Al grabbed a cup from the table and went to the bathroom to fill it before returning to his brother's bedside. Ed pushed himself to a sitting position and gratefully took the cup. Al sat down on the other bed and waited for his brother to finish.

"Thanks, Al," Ed said before placing the cup on the nightstand and lying back down. Al waited another minute to speak to him.

"Is this because of that man, brother?" he finally asked.

Ed looked up at Al for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. "It's nothing, Al. I probably just ate bad food or something."

"Brother, I've seen you with food poisoning," Al remarked skeptically. "If you're going to lie, could you at least make it convincing?"

Ed turned his eyes to the ceiling. "Fine. Yes, Al, it's because of _him._ I thought I could deal with it, but apparently I can't. I'm sure I'll get over it by tomorrow."

"Brother, do you really think that?"

"Of course I do," Ed snapped. "I just need to stop thinking about how disgusting that bastard is and focus on catching him."

Al let out a resigned sigh in his mind. This wasn't going to end well…

"Do you really think the Lieutenant Colonel's going to believe that?"

Ed groaned. "I forgot about him. Oh well, I'll just distract him when he brings it up."

"He stopped falling for that after the tenth time you brought up his daughter."

"Then… I'll think of something else."

It was quiet in the room for a while longer before Al spoke again. "Brother, I don't want to see you get hurt."

Ed looked up at Al and flashed a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Al. I can take care of myself, and besides, you'll be with me, right?"

Al shook his head in a resigned manner. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Brother… Listen, if this is really bothering you so much to the point where it makes you sick, then why are you trying to continue?"

Ed sighed and rolled over onto his side, pushing himself up slightly to be closer to Al's eye level. "Because, Al, I won't be able to concentrate on anything else until he's caught. I'm sorry, but the Philosopher's Stone is going to have to wait."

"I don't care about that right now. Right now, I just want you to stop pushing yourself. You're scaring me." Okay, so maybe it was a little bit of an exaggeration, but Al felt it was called for. After all, it was only a matter of time until Ed's condition really did scare him…

Ed looked up in surprise for a moment before lowering his gaze and dropping his head back onto his pillow. "Sorry, Al. I'll try to take it easy from now on."

Al did a mental victory dance as his brother closed his eyes. "Thank you, brother."

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, by the way, where'd the cat go?"

Al was about to answer when he realized that he had no clue. Then there was a meow from outside the window. Al looked, and then he let out a scream. Ed immediately bolted upright and ran to his brother's side.

"Al! What is it?"

"The cat… brother, it's about to fall off the tree! Help it!"

"Why can't you?" Ed shot.

"I'm too big to fit through the window! Brother, please!"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh," Ed muttered as he opened the window the rest of the way and leaned out. "Al, hold my feet or something, okay?"

"R-right!"

After about ten minutes of desperate grabbing, the cat finally entered the bedroom via Ed's back. Al accidentally let go of his brother's legs in order to grab the small, injured animal, not realizing his mistake until he heard a cry of surprise from outside. Ed was currently hanging onto the branch for dear life.

"Al!"

Al put the cat down on his bed and reached out the window for his brother's hand. "Sorry, brother! Here, grab my hand!"

"I can't! You're too far away!"

Al pushed himself as far as he could out the small window without risking a loss of balance, and as he reached for his brother's hand…

The branch broke. Al watched in numb shock as Ed fell through the tree and landed in the bushes, landing in a way that, while it couldn't be considered fatal, would definitely hurt for a while.

"Brother! You okay?" Al shouted down to Ed, who was beginning to stir among the bushes.

"No! This is all your fault, Al!" Ed shouted back as he attempted to disentangle himself from the bushes.

"What exactly is his fault?" came a voice from nearby. Both Ed and Al started and looked at the speaker as he approached.

-----------------

"Stupid Al leaving the stupid window open so the stupid cat could get stuck in the stupid tree and make me rescue it and fall into the stupid bushes," Ed muttered as he pulled needles out of his jacket. Yes, all those branches and such had neatly broken his fall, but damn, it still hurt like hell. Ed hissed in pain as Greg pulled a needle out of his neck.

"Still blaming it on the cat, huh?" the CSI remarked as Ed observed his pants. That was definitely a lot of needles…

"Maybe you should just take them off and worry about it later," Greg suggested as they made their way inside. Ed pointedly ignored the stares and amused whispers coming from the other guests.

"Yeah, I guess that'll have to do," Ed answered. It was bad enough that he'd done that in the first place, but in front of both CSIs _and_ Hughes? This was definitely not one of Ed's better days…

When they finally reached Ed's room, everyone else was already there. Ed glared at them all, especially his brother and the cat, grabbed a pair of pants from his suitcase, and stalked into the bathroom.

"I thought you just fell, Ed!" Grissom remarked through the door as Ed finally got his needle-covered pants off. In response, Ed pulled the door open, glared directly at Grissom, and chucked his pants at the elder CSI before slamming the door shut again. Once he had changed, Ed returned to the main room and sat down on his bed with a scowl.

"How'd it go?" he asked, ignoring the fact that everyone's eyes were on him. He _would_ get through this with his dignity intact…

"We got an eyewitness," Grissom answered. "Someone recognized the guy from that sketch that Greg _conveniently_ had stowed away in his kit."

"Really? What'd they say?" Ed asked, all traces of irritation gone from his voice.

"Apparently the guy's been buying food and other supplies from his store on and off for the past month." This time it was Greg giving the answer. "We searched the surrounding area with no sign of him, but the guy at the shop said he'd call if he comes again."

"Won't that tip the guy off that we're looking for him, though?"

"Not necessarily. This particular man's done this before. He's good at avoiding suspicion, and he's equally good at keeping people in his store so that the military has time to get there," Hughes answered. "One of the few civilians in that part of town who's still sympathetic with the military."

"Great," Ed muttered to himself. Finally, they were getting somewhere…

"Anyway, are you feeling better?"

Ed blinked at this sudden change in topic and looked up. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine now."

"You sure?" Grissom asked.

Ed scowled at the older CSI for a moment. Grissom seemed to get the hint and shrugged. "Okay, if you say so."

There wasn't much to discuss after that, and soon Hughes left for home, brandishing another picture in everyone's faces before he skipped out the door. (and let's face it, Hughes skipping is fairly realistic…)

---------------

So, I was writing the next chapter when all of a sudden, Word went crazy and decided to be a pain and killed the document, giving me some nonsense about "the file is corrupted, want us to save part of it?" and so obviously I was like "WTF YES I WANT YOU TO SAVE IT agdsfhggdfhg" and so it saved it, but then look what happened:

ìI think thatís why itís so hard for him. He doesnít know his own limits.î

While the original line is "I think that's why it's so hard for him. He doesn't know his own limits."

And thus, I wasted a couple of hours getting everything back to normal, but you people should be grateful that my computer isn't crappy enough to completely ruin my life. Otherwise this would be a rant of why you wouldn't be getting the next chapter for a long time because of very pathetic technology killing off a good page of writing that I would have had to rewrite from memory, which is thankfully possible for me, but still… So yeah. You lucky fiends.

And yeah, we're slowly coming to the end here. Maybe then I'll actually work on some of my other fics. (Changes is coming out of unspoken hiatus at the moment, it seemed so long ago that it was one of my more popular fics…)


	15. Chapter 14

Nyahaha update. Yeah, two updates in the same night, don't ever expect it again. Ever.

---------------

It was still very dark when Grissom awoke, but something kept him from going back to sleep. He looked around the room, finally resting his eyes on the watch Greg had placed on the nightstand. Four AM. They didn't have to be up until seven, but Grissom had the feeling he wouldn't be getting any sleep, especially since Greg seemed to be catching a cold. The noise was beginning to get on the older CSI's nerves, and so he got dressed and went to go talk to Al. He was sure that the quiet armor would appreciate it.

Al was silent as he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. He turned to Grissom with what could be a questioning look as he closed the door behind him.

"Is something wrong?" Al asked.

"No."

"Couldn't sleep?" Al asked dryly.

"That would be it. How's Ed?"

"Still sick. He's been awake half the night, and even if I could sleep, I wouldn't have tonight with the way he's been."

Grissom frowned. "That doesn't sound right. I'd have thought he'd be fine by now."

Al shook his head sadly. "No, brother doesn't tend to be very good with these things. This isn't the first time this has happened."

"What do you mean by that?"

Al shrugged and looked back at the door. "He always does this to himself. I understand why, and I'm grateful, but I hate it. He pushes himself so hard that sometimes it's painful to even watch him. I mean, I want my body back, but not if it costs Ed his sanity. He's pretty high-maintenance as it is."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize he was high-maintenance."

"Oh, he is. I swear, he'd have been kicked out of the military if I left him alone. I'm always the one to wake him up, I have to remind him to report to the Colonel, I'm the one who has to hold him back whenever anyone makes jokes about his height—"

"Hold him back?" Grissom asked. Well, it didn't necessarily surprise him, but he'd thought that maybe Ed had grown out of it by now…

"And not just then, either," Al continued. "Just about anything will set him off if he's in a bad mood."

And here Grissom had foolishly thought that Al had nothing but respect for his older brother. "He really is a kid, isn't he?"

"He doesn't think so." Al looked back at the door once again. "I think that's why it's so hard for him. He doesn't know his own limits."

"You seem to understand him pretty well."

"I've had more than enough time to think about it," Al replied, reminding Grissom about Al's empty body.

"You know, with all the time you've spent awake these past few years, it's no wonder you're the mature one," Grissom remarked.

Al shrugged off this comment and looked down the hall. "I always figured we were about even. He's definitely better at alchemy, though. I still have to draw out a circle."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. He had figured Al had improved at the same rate his brother had. They seemed about even in everything the first time he had met them, so why the drastic shift?

"I don't know why he doesn't have to, though," Al continued. "It just started after we… well, you know… and I think he knows why, so that's good enough for me."

There was a meow and a scratching at the door. Al opened it and picked up the cat, allowing Grissom to get a good look at it for the first time. It was an orange cat with tiger stripes, and Grissom had to admit, he could understand why Al had felt the need to keep it.

"Um… I need to get something for him, so…"

"Right. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah."

As Al walked down the hallway and out of sight, Grissom stood in the hallway, thinking. Just why had Ed gotten so much better? He realized that it was probably hard for the alchemist to talk about, but he was still curious. Actually, just about everything about Ed made Grissom curious. He was just that kind of kid.

He quietly opened the door to Ed's room and shut it behind him before approaching Ed's bed. The lights were off, but the curtains were partially opened and light streamed in from the streetlamps. Ed was currently lying on his side, his eyes closed and his face contorted in a sort of grimace. It looked like he was having another nightmare.

"Ed?" Grissom ventured, checking to see if Ed was awake. He got no response.

He quietly sat down on the other bed and watched the sleeping teen for a while. Ed's face was still pale, and he shivered on occasion, although it didn't take long for Grissom to realize that Ed had shed his blankets at some point during the night. Not wanting to risk Ed really getting sick, Grissom grabbed the fabric and pulled the blankets over Ed's body before sitting down on the other bed.

"No… give him back…"

Grissom looked up. Ed had pulled himself into the fetal position, and he was holding onto the covers with a death grip. Grissom called his name once more to see if it would have an effect.

"He's my only brother, give him back…"

Grissom was curious to know if Ed knew he talked in his sleep. He watched the boy for another moment, debating whether he should wake him up. It sounded like he was dreaming about the very one they were after, and if so, this would be definite proof that Ed wasn't capable of continuing with the search. If not, however, what could it be? A memory of the night the boys had tried to bring back their mother, most likely, but once again, Grissom still didn't know all the details. He'd realized that Ed hadn't told him the entire story, but considering how painful it was for the boy, he didn't mind. He was still surprised that Ed was holding up as well as he was.

"Ed?" Grissom tried again. This time, Ed relaxed, but Grissom had the feeling he wasn't quite awake. Grissom waited for a moment to see if Ed would do anything else, but there was nothing for a good three minutes.

"He's gone…"

Grissom looked curiously at Ed once again. Once again, he wasn't sure what Ed meant by those words. Was it a memory? A fear of what could happen with their killer? Or was he simply stating the fact that Al wasn't in the room? Whatever it was, Grissom had the feeling he had to talk to Ed to calm him down.

"He'll be back," he said quietly as he knelt down next to the bed. "He just went away for a little bit."

"No, he was taken away… He took my leg, too…"

"Al took your leg?" Grissom asked. Or maybe there was someone else involved. At any rate, it seemed as if Ed was reliving that night, and not dreaming about the one who wanted him dead.

"No, _he_ did."

"Who?"

"The shadow… at the Doors, he took Al away…"

"The shadow?"

"He said he was Truth…"

Now Grissom was slightly confused. Was Ed telling the truth? Had he really lost his leg to a shadow called Truth, or had this been a hallucination?

"Why did he take them?"

Ed muttered something incoherent, and his body became more tense.

"I can't understand you," Grissom said.

"P-passage fee," Ed muttered. His voice was becoming clearer, and he seemed to be slowly coming to his senses. All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open and he looked up at Grissom. There was a rainbow of emotions in those eyes, so many that Grissom couldn't pick out anything particular. After a minute, Ed lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. "I was 'snoring' again, right?"

"Yep. You feeling okay?"

"Fine." There was a slight pause for a moment before Ed suddenly turned his head to face Grissom. "Wait a minute, why are you in here anyway? It's still dark out!"

"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late," Grissom quipped.

"…Are you quoting that one guy again?"

"Shakespeare? Yes."

"Why?"

"I happen to like quoting things."

Ed snorted and rolled over onto his right side, his back toward Grissom.

"Whatever. I'm going back to sleep."

"Okay," Grissom replied as he stood up. "See you in three hours."

---------EMOTIONAL RAINBOW!!!--------

If Ed was still feeling sick the next day, he did a very good job of hiding it. As Greg got his things together for what they hoped to be the final day of searching, the alchemist was quizzing him on random bits of information Greg had learned during his first alchemy lesson.

"Okay, last one for now," Ed said as Greg finished up. "Explain the concept of equivalent exchange in alchemy."

"You can't gain anything without first giving something else in exchange, and in order to transmute something, you have to have everything that's going to be part of the object you create," Greg recited.

"Yep. Good," Ed complimented before looking at the door. "I think you might actually be able to use alchemy sometime soon."

"You think so?"

"Probably."

"Prob—"

The door opened right at that moment, and Grissom looked at the two from the doorway. "You ready?"

"Yeah, no problem," Greg answered.

Ed nodded his agreement, and they exited the hotel room. Hughes was waiting for them in the lobby. After he greeted the group, they headed outside and to Headquarters, explaining something along the way.

"I figured today would be a good day to narrow down search areas, since we probably know enough to do that now," the lieutenant colonel explained. "We've got a few patrols out there right now, along with the Strong-Arm Alchemist, so we'll see if that turns up anything."

They arrived at the building and headed to a smaller room within Hughes's place of work, where a pile of folders and miscellaneous papers was stacked on one side of a table. At the far end of the room was a desk that was obviously Hughes', since the wall behind it was plastered with photos of Elysia. There was a phone on the desk as well, and a few minutes after they began, it rang.

"Yes, this is Hughes," Hughes said as he answered the phone. "What?! Now? Okay, yeah, just get a babysitter, and I'll try to be home early today." There was a pause, during which Hughes glanced at the group around the table. "Actually… Hey, Ed!"

Ed groaned. "Are you kidding me? What about this?" he asked, gesturing to the papers that were now spread out on the table.

"You've already been incredibly helpful, but if you do this for me, you'll be helping even more!"

"How?"

"If you're watching Elysia, I'll know for sure that she's in good hands, and I won't be distracted and worried all day long, obviously."

Ed scowled. "You're trying to get rid of me again, aren't you?"

Hughes gave Ed an eerie smile. "Well, even if I am, there's nothing you can do about it. This is now a direct order."

There was a long silence in the room before Ed finally stood up. "Fine."

Hughes instantly became his normal, friendly self again as he hung up the phone, and patted Ed on the back as he led him to the door. "Thanks a lot. I'll get you a ride, and we'll see you tonight."

------I AM OBSESSED WITH SNOOD.------

Gracia was waiting at the door when Ed arrived at the house. She smiled at Ed and handed him a list. "These are the basic things you need to know. She shouldn't be too much trouble today. She stayed up late last night listening to the radio with her father, so right now she's still sleepy. Thank you very much for coming, Edward."

Ed managed to force a smile. "No problem. I hope everything goes well."

"Thank you. Maes will probably be back before I am. Sorry about all this, but this is really important—"

"It's fine. Aren't you going to be late, though?"

Gracia nodded and made her way to the street. "Thanks again!"

Ed nodded and went inside, closing the front door behind him. Elysia was sitting on the couch, playing with one of her toys. Ed approached her silently and sat down next to her. He wasn't exactly the babysitting type, and he was still angry about being sent away _again_, but he was determined not to take it out on the two-year-old.

"What are you playing?" he asked after a while.

"Soldiers. This one's my papa and this one's the bad guy," Elysia replied, looking curiously up at Ed. "Will you be the bad guy for me?"

Ed sighed. This might be harder than he thought, but he'd try… "Sure."

-----------------

"Well, we can rule out the high class residence areas," Hughes said, circling a few small parts on the map of Central that also lay on the table.

"Same goes for the high class commercial areas," Greg added. "And probably the area close to headquarters, too, since I doubt he'd want to get too close to the authorities."

"Not necessarily, Greg," Grissom replied. "He might use that to throw us off."

"Yeah, and that would be the case if our guy was a criminal mastermind, which, for some reason, I doubt. I mean, the smartest thing this guy has done is pick victims that we'd never hear about."

Grissom shrugged one shoulder. "That's true. He certainly doesn't clean up after himself. He just leaves everything behind. The only problem is, we didn't find traces of any of his other crimes, and the first time, the landlord said he'd been living there for at least five years, well before any of the cases here."

"Maybe he's got a mental disability," Greg said. "Some form of OCD, that makes him rape these kids in a certain manner, along with something else?"

"It's a possibility."

"Actually, that would make sense," Al suddenly interjected.

"How so, Al?" Grissom asked.

"Well… The first time, when it was both of us, there were times when he'd talk about 'the other ones' or 'this time can't be different' or something else along those lines. We didn't really get it back then, but now that I think about it, there was definitely something off about him." Al paused for a minute. "Well, other than the fact that he was… you know."

"Yeah, I get it," Grissom said. "Now, if only Ed were here. He could probably confirm it."

"No, I doubt it. Brother doesn't usually pay attention to those kinds of things."

"Well, then we'll just have to figure it out without him. Now, if he does have a need to do things in a certain way, but he's been forced to live on the streets, then—"

There was a knock on the door, which immediately opened, revealing two soldiers, both of which immediately saluted Hughes.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but we gained some information you should hear."

"Okay, let's hear it," Hughes replied.

"Yes. Well, one of the patrols was asking around about the suspect, and a construction overseer recognized him as one of the workers he'd hired out of desperation. However, he hasn't shown up for work in the past two or three days."

This definitely caught Hughes's attention. "Anything else?"

"Yes, sir. The suspect said he was living near the slums, a few blocks away from the construction site."

Hughes looked at the others. Slums; that definitely fit their suspect. Either it was a trap, or…

"That store he's been to is near that area, right?" Grissom asked.

"That's right," Hughes replied.

"Should we get Ed?" Greg asked.

Hughes shrugged. "That depends on if you want to bring this guy back alive."

There was an awkward silence before Al stood up. "Well, I guess we should just go, then, but brother will be really disappointed…"

"He'll just have to deal with it," Hughes said as he pulled something out of his top desk drawer. "Let's go."

Greg shifted nervously as the Lieutenant Colonel walked past him. He was still new on the field, after all, and he wasn't sure how well he'd do out there. Of course, he'd do the best he could, but he was still worried.

"Hey, Greg, maybe you should stay behind," Grissom suggested, sensing the CSI's nervousness.

"Yeah," Hughes agreed. "Actually, I could have someone give you a ride to my place. I'm sure Ed would appreciate the company." Translation: We need someone to baby-sit the babysitter.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure."

----------------

"Mister Edward?"

Ed blinked and snapped out of his trance at the sound of Elysia's voice. He had fixed lunch for them both, but instead of eating, he'd found himself staring at the window. He was wondering how the search was coming.

"Aren't you hungry?" Elysia asked, pointing to Ed's plate. "Daddy says it's good to eat lots to be healthy."

Ed smiled half-heartedly at the two-year-old before picking up his fork. "I know. I was just thinking about something else for a little bit."

"You looked sad," Elysia said.

"Yeah," Ed muttered as he began eating. "I was thinking about something very sad."

"Daddy gets sad sometimes, but then we play a little and he feels better." Elysia was officially finished eating, it seemed. "Maybe it'll make you feel better too."

"Yeah, okay" Ed smiled. He could see why Hughes was so proud of his daughter. "Just let me eat a little, okay?"

"Okay."

As Ed finished his meal, he was surprised to hear a knock at the front door. He walked with Elysia to the door and opened it. Standing on the other side of the door was Greg.

"Hey."

"Hey," Ed replied with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, there wasn't anything I could do, so they just sent me over here to make sure you weren't going insane with boredom," Greg answered. "Hi, Elysia," he continued, waving to the girl. She smiled and waved back.

"Okay, then." Ed stepped back to let Greg inside before shutting the door. The three of them moved into the living room, and as they played with the girl, Ed felt himself becoming less stressed. After a while, he left the living room to take a small break, and he walked up to a window that gave a decent view of the front yard and the street beyond.

An eerily familiar man was currently jogging down the street, a rope on his shoulder and, from what Ed could see, a terribly familiar look on his face.

Ed spared a glance back at the living room before looking back outside. This was bad, very, very bad. He looked back at the living room, debating whether he should tell Greg or not. But then, what about Elysia? She couldn't stay here on her own, and Gracia had said that none of the neighbors could watch her today. She needed someone to take care of her, but if someone didn't go after this guy…

"Hey, Greg, I'm going outside for a minute," Ed said suddenly, before he even realized what he was doing. "I just remembered something I need to do out there."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, okay. Be careful."

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine," Ed replied sarcastically, masking the worry that threatened to pour out. "I'll see you later."

And with that, he was outside, pulling his coat on and walking briskly down the sidewalk until he came to the front gate. A quick check through the window showed that Greg was occupied with Elysia, and thus, Ed sprinted down the street, hoping to catch up with the man who had put him through hell.

It wasn't until he'd gotten a few blocks down the road that he realized just how bad of an idea this had been.

--------------

And now, since I have a project due tomorrow in my honors class, it might be a while before I update again. But why do I feel the need to say this? We all know that I suck at updating.

Anyway, I mentioned my honors class because I GOT OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED INTO THE MONTANA STATE HONORS PROGRAM HECK YEAH IN YOUR FACE OVERACHIEVING HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES!

Now to think of a life lesson I can learn from a herd of insane ducks…

Note: I used herd on purpose. They can sense when someone's bringing food. _They know._


	16. Chapter 15

"Any sign of him yet?" Hughes called out to Grissom, who was currently checking the bottom story of an abandoned building. Hughes was standing casually in the entrance, easily fitting the part of a soldier on break. One who just happened to be in the slums of Central.

"No," Grissom called back. "There are footprints, but they aren't his. I'd say we move on to the next building."

"Yeah, good idea." They continued down the street to the next abandoned building, Al trailing behind. As they opened the door, however, someone came running up to the three and saluted Hughes.

"Sir, we have some urgent news from the two who were following the Fullmetal Alchemist."

There was a tense silence for a moment before the soldier got the hint and gave the news. "He was seen running out of the Hughes residence alone, and it seemed as if he was chasing someone. Mr. Sanders is still there, he had arrived at least half an hour before this happened. One of the MPs watching him followed while the other went in to call us with a report."

"Did they see who he was chasing?" Hughes asked.

"No, sir."

"Damn," Hughes muttered. "What direction was he headed?"

"This way, sir, but there's a chance he might not be."

Hughes exchanged glances with Grissom and Al. If Ed was really chasing after the culprit, then they had a major problem on their hands. No matter what happened, there wasn't a very good chance that this would end well, for Ed or for the one he was chasing.

"Get word out to the others that Fullmetal's on his way here, and tell them that he's most likely in pursuit of our culprit. Keep an eye out for any stray kids in the area, too."

"Yes, sir!"

There was a tense silence as the soldiers dispersed that lasted about a minute. When it was broken, it was by Al's cat. It somehow managed to force Al's head off and sprinted away, disappearing within a few seconds.

And then there was a depressed silence, mostly coming from Al. After a minute, they finally got back to work. They walked through the area, still looking for signs of their killer, but now they were looking for Ed as well.

------------------

Ed sighed as he rounded yet another corner. The man had slowed to walking, but as they were still in a crowded area, Ed couldn't find the chance to catch him, and running to catch up would only draw attention to himself. Besides, he wanted to be able to get at least a little bit of payback.

However, he was nervous. He realized that he could probably disarm the man easily, but what if he had a weapon? What if Grissom was right and he was running after someone who had plenty of experience from his days in prison? There was just so much that he didn't know that he wasn't sure if he could handle it on his own.

_No wonder Hughes put me on babysitting duty,_ he thought grimly as he continued to walk down the street. He was about to turn another corner when a black uniform blocked his way.

"Sir, aren't you supposed to be at the Hughes residence?" asked one of the two military policemen who had stopped him.

Ed gestured to the road. "Something more important came up. I saw the culprit pass by and I'm trying to follow him."

The two immediately apologized. "Sorry, sir. We hadn't realized you were doing something that important. Is there anything we can do to help?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, I could use some backup. Could you get word to the Lieutenant Colonel? I should catch him within the next few blocks."

"Yes, sir. Do you want one of us to come with you?"

Ed shook his head. "No, he'd notice the uniform. Besides, I need to move quickly."

The two nodded. "We'll contact Hughes immediately. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Ed replied as he continued on his way. Now that he knew the military would be on his trail, he could breathe more easily and concentrate on his goal.

He turned another corner and saw his tormenter standing on the corner. Ed stood where he was for a moment, trying to come up with a plan. Should he directly confront him? Should he casually approach him? Or should he just keep following him? The man glanced in his direction and Ed decided to approach him. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked up to him.

"Hey," he said, trying to make his voice as deep as possible. The man looked over at him and snorted.

"What do you want?" the man snapped, his voice the same as it had been every time he had beaten Ed. Ed almost forgot his determination to wait for backup; the only thing that kept him from breaking the man's jaw was the fear of what Mustang would do to him. Instead, Ed gritted his teeth and pulled his left hand out from his pocket. He inspected his fingers as he spoke, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"I'm looking for someone," Ed began. "Have you seen a kid around, blonde hair, brown eyes–"

"No."

"Really? Damn," Ed swore. "Jeez, every time I go out with _her_, _she_ runs off," he said, stressing the feminine pronouns perhaps a bit too much.

"Oh, you're looking for a girl? I figured you were looking for a boy." Ed could hear the relief in the man's voice.

"So you've seen her?" Ed asked, his voice hopeful. It seemed the man didn't suspect him yet.

"Uh, yeah, I've seen her."

Ed felt a wave of unease wash over him. This guy was obviously lying. Had he seen through Ed's own lie, or was he just trying to get rid of him? "Really? Where'd she go?" Ed asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

"Oh, here, I'll show you," the man said. Yeah, he knew, all right. Ed followed at a safe distance as the man led him through the streets, mentally preparing himself for a struggle. Soon, they were in a deserted alley in a more rundown part of the city. Ed watched the man carefully, determined to react quickly should the man try something. To Ed's surprise and dismay, however, the man did something fairly unexpected. He pulled out a gun and fired.

Ed let out a pained cry and stumbled back as the bullet went through his shoulder. The man used this opportunity to rush the alchemist and ran at him, rope in hand. Ed tried to bring his hands together to transmute, but the man was faster. He tackled the alchemist and pushed him to the ground, the gun now pushing against his chin. Ed froze. This was not good at all…

"I know you've been following me for the past hour. I also know that brown isn't your natural color." The man pushed the gun harder, forcing Ed's head to tilt upwards. "And you know what else I know? The only reason I haven't blown your head off is because you're still small enough to be worth fucking."

Then the man pulled the gun away and brought the metal crashing down on Ed's skull. Ed had no time to feel the pain before his world went black.

----------------

"Did you hear that?" Al asked.

"The gunshot? Yeah, I heard it," Hughes replied. "Sounds like our guy's finally revealed himself."

"But how did he get hold of a gun?"

Grissom looked over in the direction the shot had come from. "Several of the prison guards were incapacitated during the breakout. It would have been easy for him to pick up a gun from one of them when he escaped."

"And it might not even be him shooting," Hughes pointed out. "Maybe one of the MPs on patrol fired the shot."

"I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves," Grissom said, and the three made their way to the area where the gun was fired.

As they arrived in the area, Grissom noted that there was a pool of blood in one of the alleys. He gestured to the others and cautiously approached the pool, kneeling next to it when he got close enough.

"There's some spatter, the pattern here would imply that whoever was bleeding was on the ground," the CSI muttered to himself. "There's a trail going off that way," he said, pointing to the opposite end of the alley. "And I'm guessing there's a bullet somewhere around here, too."

"But where is everybody?" Hughes asked. "Did he just run for it? There would have had to be two people here."

"The shooter and the target," Grissom finished. He continued to look down at the blood beneath him, stopping when he saw some brown hairs close by, also covered in blood. He picked one up and looked at it closely. There was a tag, so it had been pulled out, and at the very tip of the roots there was a hint of blonde. "I hate to say it, but I think the target was Ed."

"Well," Hughes said grimly. "At least he left us a trail."

------------------

Pain. Pain, pain, and more pain. As Ed forced his eyes open, he realized that it wasn't anything new, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant. His head and arm ached horribly, and Ed almost laughed at the irony of it all. These were almost the same injuries that bastard had inflicted on him just before he raped Jane Lindy.

Ed's hands were tied roughly behind his back, and he was gagged. His legs were tied tightly, to the point where he was losing the feeling in his right foot. As he took in his surroundings, Ed used alchemy to loosen the ropes on his wrists. He'd leave them on for now, since he didn't know whether it was safe for him to try and make a break for it.

He was in a small, dilapidated room with one small window letting in minimal light through the boards that covered it. The door leading out of the room was little more than a plank of wood leaning against the crumbling concrete, and Ed could hear voices.

One was young, and Ed recognized the fear and pain coming from it. It sounded much like his own, back when he'd been trapped with that bastard himself, and also when he'd lost Al on that fateful night. The other voice was obviously that bastard's, and it was filled with the typical anger. Ed felt his blood boil. That bastard was going to hurt another innocent kid, or maybe he had already.

_Well,_ Ed mused as he pulled his hands free and transmuted the bonds on his legs away. _At least I know he won't be thinking about me for a while if he's just starting._ He pulled the gag off and peered through a hole in the wall. What he saw was almost enough to make him vomit.

That bastard was sitting on a stool, and while the small boy that knelt in front of him partially blocked Ed's view, Ed could tell the man's pants had been discarded. The man also had a gun pointing at the kid's head.

He didn't know what came over him at that point. Before he even understood what was going on, Ed found himself standing a few feet away from the two. The man glared up at him, and the boy looked fearfully up at Ed as well before the man roughly grabbed him by the hair and pulled him against his chest, still pointing the gun at his head.

"You make another move, this kid dies," the man growled.

Ed didn't move. He was still consciously forcing himself not to vomit, but the next words that came out of his mouth were surprising to him. "Let him go. I'll take his place."

The man pushed the kid away from his body, and the boy tripped and fell to the floor. Ed noted that the boy was only dressed in a shirt, and he continuously tried to pull it down. There were various wounds on his body as well.

"Well?"

Ed looked back at the man, who still had his gun pointing at the boy. "I meant let him go home. Alive. I'll do whatever you want as soon as he's out of range of your precious gun."

The man raised an eyebrow at Ed. "You think that's enough for me? Why should I give up another kid just for you? You'll be dead in a few hours."

"You kill me, you'll never get your hands on my brother," Ed growled.

"And how does that work? If you're dead, you won't be in my way."

"True, but it's hard to find a suit of armor appealing, isn't it?" Ed asked. He was cringing on the inside, but he needed to ensure his survival, or at least get the man to get rid of the gun. "His body is gone. If you kill me, that body will never be seen again. I thought you wanted him more," Ed spat. _It's not like he'll get his hands on him, though,_ Ed reassured himself. _It's just a statement. Al won't get his body back if I die. I'm not exchanging Al's… virginity for my life. I'm not._

The man looked thoughtful for a minute. "And how do I know you're not lying?"

"You don't. But I don't really care about that. Right now, all I want is for that boy to go home without having to submit to your perverted needs."

"And you'll submit instead?"

Ed nodded, not intending to go through with his word. "That's right."

The man looked from the kid to Ed once more before nodding and turning his gun to Ed. "Fine. Hey, kid, you're free to go, so get the hell out of here before I change my mind."

The kid nodded, looked gratefully at Ed, and ran for the stairway. Once he was out of sight, Ed turned back to the killer in front of him.

"Well?"

Ed sighed and took another step toward the man. He knelt at the man's signal, waiting for the chance to get close enough to the gun to transmute it into something harmless. However, the man seemed to see through Ed's plan, because he kept the gun out of Ed's reach until he had circled behind Ed and tied his hands together again. Ed swore under his breath. He should have just attacked the man and risked getting shot once the kid had left. Now anything he did would be slowed due to the rope around his wrists.

The man knelt in front of Ed with a disgusting grin on his face, and Ed found himself unconsciously leaning back.

"Now, now, you said you'd submit," the man said, tracing a finger along Ed's chest. Ed knew the bastard was staring at his eyes, but Ed kept his gaze elsewhere, like on the gun that was in the man's now limp right hand. If he could just get to it before the bastard had time to react…

"Hey!" Ed let out a gasp as his chin was roughly pushed up. Right now, Ed had no choice but to look at his supposed captor. He was incredibly grateful for the fact that he was still clothed, but he got the feeling that wouldn't last long.

He was right. The man turned, pointing the gun at Ed's head as he did so, and grabbed something off the floor before turning back to Ed. He used the sharp knife to cut through Ed's shirt. Ed continued to keep his eyes on the gun, waiting as long as he could before making a move.

"We'll leave the sleeves, I don't want to look at that disgusting excuse for an arm," the man growled before dropping the knife on the ground. Ed twisted his hands a bit, glad to note that the ropes would come off without him even having to use alchemy. His attention was drawn away from that, however, when he felt an unwelcome pressure on his lips.

That was when he lost control.

----------------

The blood trail stopped a few blocks from where they had found it, and Al was understandably worried. The armor was fidgeting as Hughes and Grissom examined the surrounding area. Ed had to be close by, but there was no way they could find him without anything to follow. At this point, it looked like their only choice was to split up.

Hughes seemed to realize this as well, because he looked up at the other two with a resigned look in his eyes. "Backup should be coming soon. Whoever finds him first should get a signal out to the others."

"Right," Grissom agreed before looking at Al. The armor, however, was currently running off down another alley.

"Al!" Hughes shouted. Al stopped a few seconds later, but instead of turning around, he knelt down. That was when Grissom saw the boy.

He was only wearing a t-shirt, and he sat cross-legged on the ground, his face buried in one of his hands. The other was holding the shirt down to cover up his body. His face was tear-streaked and bloody, but other than that, he appeared to be in decent shape.

Grissom knelt next to the boy as well, and so did Hughes. The Lieutenant Colonel pulled off his jacket and placed it around the boy's shoulders. The sudden warmth seemed to bring the boy's attention to the three around him. His eyes were brown and full of fear.

"Hey," Grissom said. "What's your name?"

"Kyle," the boy whispered.

"Kyle? As in Kyle Belen?" Hughes asked. When the boy nodded, Hughes gave him a friendly smile. "Your parents told us you went missing. Are you okay?"

"I-I think so," Kyle answered, rubbing his eyes. "Someone saved me."

"What did he look like?"

"H-he had brown hair, and he wasn't much bigger than me, and…"

"What did he do to save you?"

"Well, he said… This one guy was trying to get me to…" Kyle stopped for a moment and shuddered. "And he said he'd do whatever that man wanted if he'd let me go…"

"And he let you go?"

Kyle nodded. "But now he's gonna get hurt instead of me, and I… I wanted to help him somehow, but I can't…"

"Don't worry, Kyle," Hughes said. "We're looking for the person who hurt you. If you tell us where they are, we can help him for you."

Kyle nodded. "Thank you."

Hughes smiled at Kyle. "No problem. Hey, Al, why don't you two go after him and I'll stay here?"

Al nodded. "Where do we need to go, Kyle?"

Kyle pointed down the alley. "That building, on the second floor. There's a big open room at the top of the stairs. That's where…"

"Okay, Kyle," Grissom said. "That's all we need to know. Thank you."

Hughes proceeded to pull his coat off of Kyle's shoulders and used it to block Kyle's privates from view, giving the boy a chance to cover himself more efficiently as Grissom and Al headed to the building Kyle had pointed out.

"Well, this is it," Al said as they arrived at the door.

"Yep," Grissom agreed. "I just hope it's not too late."

------------------

So… no comments this time, actually.


	17. Chapter 16

Aww, next chapter will be the last one, except for one or two short chapters that don't necessarily connect with this storyline…

Also, kudos to FMA lover912 for being my first ever 100th reviewer! I feel so special. :3

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It was just another patrol. Another day, another shift full of people wondering if this would be the day that Grissom and Greg finally returned from wherever the hell they had disappeared to. And while none of the CSIs were overly afraid for their coworkers' lives, they were still worried.

"It's been a week," Nick said as he got into his car, Warrick getting in on the passenger's side. They were headed back to the lab with some evidence from another case, and once again, their prior searches had come up with nothing. "You know, there is no way we wouldn't have heard from them by now."

"Maybe they're in Greg and Ed's 'other world,'" Warrick suggested.

"You know, I just hope they're not dead," Nick replied as he turned on the vehicle and began driving.

"Me too, Nick. Me too."

They drove on in silence for a while, stopping at a stoplight that happened to be red. As he waited for the light to change, Nick became aware of a couple of police cars further down the road. As the light changed, Nick drove forward and noticed that Brass was standing closer to the cars. He looked preoccupied, but he didn't move. It was like he was waiting for something.

"Hey, Warrick, think we should see what's going on?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, might as well," Warrick replied. Nick pulled over, and the two CSIs exited the vehicle and approached Brass. The detective acknowledged them with a wave and went back to looking down an alley.

"What's up?" Nick asked, looking down the alley as well.

"We got a call about a gunshot going off in this area. Officers are scouting it out and trying to find out what's going on."

"Need help?"

"Probably not, but feel free to stick around," Brass replied.

"Yeah, I think we will," Warrick said. Nick nodded in agreement. Something told him to stay here, and that's what he would do. They followed Brass down the alley, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Then another gunshot went off, and two people came crashing out of a second-story window.

---------------

Ed easily broke out of his restraints the moment his would-be rapist tried forcing his tongue into Ed's mouth, and he brought his fist into the bastard's cheek and fell back. "What the hell was that?" he shouted, panic setting into his entire body.

"What the hell do you think it was, shithead? You're breaking your promise already. Is this what you always do?"

He tried to scramble to his feet, but the man recovered quickly and pointed the gun at Ed's head once again. Ed stopped, trying to think, but his mind wasn't working correctly. All he could think of was how badly he wanted to kill the man in front of him.

"You're just like all the others," the man growled. "With all the shit that comes out of your mouth, I'd be surprised if anything came out the other end."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ed screamed. "Why do you have to hurt people to get your damn pleasure?"

The man grinned, something that horrified Ed even more. "You know, I was never quite this violent before you two ruined everything. Sure, I'd smack kids around a little, but after you escaped, after you forced me to get a new life, I realized something. I'd never get off nicely until it was you. It pissed me off. If you hadn't been so damn stubborn, I never would have hurt the others so badly."

"That's a load of crap and you know it! Why the hell do you put your own pleasure in front of a kid's wellbeing? What did any of them ever do to you?"

"Nothing. They just caught my eye, the same way you and your brother did. I wanted to recreate what we had between us, but it just wasn't the same. I wanted _you,_ but you wouldn't let me have you. If you had, things would have been different. It's your damn fault those kids got it so bad."

"Shut up!" Ed grabbed at a loose chunk of concrete and chucked it at the bastard's head. It connected, but it only served to make him angrier.

"You fucking piece of shit! Fine! I'll just fuck you while you die!"

Ed tried to move, but the man pulled the trigger. Ed twitched at the noise, but after a moment, he noticed that the resulting pain wasn't coming from any vital areas. He looked up, and to his surprise, the man's hand was bleeding. Not only that, but there was a cat clawing the bastard's arm.

Ed used this to his advantage. He grabbed the gun out of the man's hand and chucked it across the room. Then, when the cat finally jumped off of the man, Ed rushed him, ignoring the pain that was now shooting up his leg. The cat's actions had probably saved his life. The man was caught off guard by the fact that Ed was still alive, and Ed landed two punches on the guy's face, the first with his right hand, and the second with his left. The man managed to retaliate, and landed a kick in Ed's chest that sent him back several feet. Ed stumbled as he landed and fell back, hitting the wall behind him and gasping in pain. As the man rushed at him, however, Ed regained his footing and landed a kick on the man's side, sending him through the nearby window. Ed followed, using his automail to take the force of the impact.

He didn't notice the figures running up to him, nor did he notice when his fist stopped connecting with the bastard's body. Nothing he did made sense to him, and he wasn't aware of the fact that he was screaming and struggling to get out of Nick's and Warrick's grasps until he felt a familiar metal hand on his shoulder.

"Brother, it's okay now. Please stop."

Finally, Ed felt his senses return. He looked at the unconscious rapist below him and lost the will to fight. His knees gave out, and if Warrick hadn't been holding him around his chest, he would have collapsed.

He was aware of voices now, and he was aware of the pain flowing through his body. It was everywhere; in his leg, his arm, his chest and his head. He had the taste of that bastard on his lips, and the urge to vomit seized him. He felt disgusted with himself, and when he was finally let go, he sat on his knees, hands curled into shaking fists and eyes wet with tears. Why? Why was this so damn painful? Why did he feel like the killer when he knew he was the victim?

His thoughts were overwhelming him, and as he heard the vaguely familiar sound of ambulance sirens in the distance, he chose the path of least resistance. He let himself sleep.

Maybe he'd wake up and find out that he'd been dreaming.

------------

"You know, you probably saved his life," Brass remarked to the cat that was now sitting on his desk. Their culprit's DNA had been found on the creature's claws, and since it was officially Al's cat at the moment, he had offered to keep it in his office for the moment. There wasn't much they could do until Ed woke up anyway.

They had seen the cat before seeing Grissom turn the corner, a large suit of armor behind him. Brass had been surprised to see the armor quietly approach Ed and the two CSIs who were trying to hold him back. He had been even more surprised to see that just one hand, along with a few words, had been enough to bring Ed back to his senses. The most surprising, however, was when Grissom had introduced the armor as Alphonse Elric.

Al was currently in the process of finding Greg and bringing him back to the lab. Ed had been checked out when the ambulance had arrived, and while the bullet wounds in his arm and leg had needed stitches, Ed was relatively unharmed. He had a mild concussion, but it wasn't serious. Indeed, the physical injuries Ed had received were nothing compared to what he'd dealt with in the past. His mental state, however, was a different story.

Brass hadn't been surprised by Ed's actions when he and the culprit had come crashing out of the second story window of an abandoned building. In fact, once he had recognized the two, he'd expected it. And he knew for a fact that Nick and Warrick had only pulled Ed off of the guy to prevent the kid from being the center of a murder investigation. If anyone had deserved to beat the crap out of the guy, it was Ed.

Ed's sudden collapse at his brother's touch had been expected as well. It was obvious that Al would have been the only one to snap his brother out of it. It was sheer luck that the kid had arrived when he did, otherwise Nick and Warrick would have had to hold Ed back until he wore himself out, unless the ambulance that Brass had called arrived before then. Then the kid probably would have been drugged, and then he'd probably be angry when he came to his senses.

Now, however, the kid was sleeping on the couch in Brass's office. He had woken up just before he was picked up from the hospital, but he hadn't said a word. His eyes had been dead, and his movements forced. This was also to be expected, but that didn't make it any easier to watch.

The cat rubbed against Brass's hand as the detective watched Ed for a moment. Then it jumped lightly off the desk and onto the couch. Brass smiled. It looked like the little fella knew how rough Ed had it at the moment. Ecklie had been pretty insistent on keeping the kid here, something about Ed beating the guy to a bloody pulp being uncalled for. This was complete bullshit, Brass knew, but there wasn't much they could do about it. He just hoped that Ed could handle it.

As he continued to fill out miscellaneous paperwork, Brass noticed movement from the couch. He looked over curiously to see if it was Ed or the cat. The cat was still lying on the top of the couch, but Ed's left arm was dangling off the edge. Other than that, he hadn't moved.

There was a knock on his door, and Brass looked up as Catherine poked her head in the room. "Hey, I heard Ed was in here. How's he doing?"

"See for yourself," Brass replied, gesturing to the couch. "He probably won't wake up for a few hours."

"And I see his savior is doing well," Catherine remarked as she pet the cat's head. "You know, even though Ed and Al can't take care of him, I think this guy deserves a good home after taking on a killer with a gun in his hand."

"But wouldn't we run into the same 'it's not from this world, so therefore it doesn't exist' problem as those other cases?" Brass asked dryly.

"Actually, one of the officers volunteered to take him in. She's a real animal lover. She'd probably be perfect for this guy."

"I'm sure Al will be thrilled. Listen, I gotta go talk to someone. Can you keep an eye on him?"

"Yeah, sure," Catherine replied. "See you later."

-----------------

"_Give him back! He's my only brother!"_

_He expected to be facing the vague outline that had stolen so much from him already, but instead he came face-to-face with a face that was, if possible, even more terrifying. The man's wicked grin seemed to be studying him, and as he approached, all chance of running, or moving in general, was gone. His body had frozen on him._

"_Oh? No wonder I like you both. But really, why _should_ I return him to you? He's a much better person than you. In fact, if you didn't have him, you'd be nothing. Is that why you want him so badly?"_

_He could only watch helplessly as his clothing was torn from his body, beginning with his shirt. The man continued in a casual tone as he ripped the fabric into shreds._

"_Oh, yes, he deserves so much better than you, but he stayed with you. He even went and tried to revive your mother with you, and we all know how that turned out."_

_Tears of shame flowed from his eyes as he continued to try and struggle, but his body just wouldn't move. Now his pants were being removed, and soon…_

"_Yes, if it hadn't been for you, he'd still be a happy little boy, and I'd be doing this to him instead of you. Well, I suppose that this is your punishment for hurting such an innocent treasure."_

"_No… stop…" he muttered weakly, but to no avail. He tried in vain to struggle once again as a hand began pulling down his boxers–_

Ed's eyes snapped open, and he nearly sat up before the pain in his body reminded him not to. Instead, he lay where he was, taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to get his heart rate back to normal._ A dream… it was just a dream, he didn't touch me since…_

"Ed?"

Ed decided to wait a moment before acknowledging that his name had been called. He didn't think he'd be able to talk just yet. He couldn't concentrate on anything other than what had happened to him, to that little boy…

"Are you feeling sick?" came the voice again, and Ed felt a warm hand on his arm, one that felt an awful lot like…

He looked up to see Catherine kneeling next to him, her face a mask of motherly concern. Ed frowned and turned his head to stare at the floor. He was almost fifteen, damn it, he didn't need someone playing the part of surrogate parent.

"I'm fine," he muttered finally, hoping that it was convincing enough, or at the very least, it would get her to drop it.

"Now that has to be the worst attempt at a lie I've heard all year," Catherine remarked. "Seriously, I can help you get to a bathroom if you need to–"

"I said I'm fine."

"And I saw right through you the first time, so why would I believe you this time?" Catherine asked. "Look, I don't care how strong you act, or how much you've been through. You're human. You have human emotions. We know what that's like, you know. You have every right to feel miserable right now."

Ed considered her words for a moment before giving in. "Fine. I'm miserable. Happy now?"

"To an extent, yes. Do you want to talk about it?"

Ed shook his head. "I don't really think I can."

There was a momentary silence, in which Catherine gently stroked Ed's hair. Part of him wanted her to stop, but it reminded him so much of _her…_

"Listen, Ed, You're going to have to talk about it sooner or later. We need to know what happened so we can get you off on self-defense."

Ed blinked. "What?"

"Ed, you almost beat him to death, and even if he deserved it, it was a little… well, extreme. If Nick and Warrick hadn't grabbed you when they did, you'd be facing homicide charges."

Ed felt tears prick at his eyes. "But he tried to kill me first."

Catherine reached up, out of Ed's range of vision, and crouched down again, holding Al's cat in her hands. "I know. He shot at you, and if this little guy hadn't jumped onto his arm, it wouldn't have just grazed a limb. Ed, we know you didn't mean to take it that far, but we have to know what happened. It's just how the law's set up."

Ed let out a sigh. He should have known this was coming. No, even when he did something for a very good reason, the government still questioned it, no matter where he was… "I get it."

Catherine gently pushed Ed's face up to look at her. "Hey, it'll be okay. You'll see."

Ed forced a weak smile onto his face. "Yeah. Thanks."

---------------

A few hours later, Ed found himself sitting in an interrogation room. Grissom was sitting across from him, and the room was silent. Ed kept his mouth shut, determined not to talk about it until he didn't have any other choice. After a few minutes, Grissom let out a sigh and spoke.

"Okay, Ed. Let's start at the beginning. How exactly did you end up in his hands?"

Ed took a deep breath before recounting the events that had led to him getting captured. It was easy enough to begin with, but when he came to the actual encounter with the boy, no, Kyle, Grissom had said, he began to falter. He took another shaky breath and continued, slowly going through the turn of events that had led to Kyle's release. Once he'd gotten that far, however, Ed stopped. He knew he hadn't handled the circumstances the way he should have, and it hurt him to think about it. He didn't want to admit he'd screwed up.

"Ed? You need to keep going, you know."

Ed nodded, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He clenched his fists and swallowed nervously. He felt a twinge of anger. Here he was, the great Fullmetal Alchemist, and he couldn't even say what had happened to him. He rested his head in his hands, hoping that he could continue if he didn't have to face anyone. If he looked into Grissom's eyes, he knew he'd break down, and that would just make things worse. No, he just had to get it out and hope that would be the end of it.

Finally, he found the strength to continue. He kept his eyes glued to the table as he spoke, just trying to get the words out so that he wouldn't have to stay in this place. All he wanted was to go home. If he could just get out of here and move on with his life, he could make it.

"Then I kicked him, and he went through the window, and…"

"And we know what happened after that," Grissom supplied. Ed let out a sigh of relief and dropped his hands to the table. Finally, it was over.

"I'm such an idiot," Ed muttered.

"You're not an idiot, Ed. You did the best you could under the circumstances."

"It doesn't feel like it," Ed mumbled, and he meant it. How could he not have noticed? The bastard was angry with _him,_ and it was essentially _his_ fault that every victim afterwards was beaten so brutally. If Ed had just submitted and–

"Ed, none of this is your fault."

Ed was silent. He knew the facts, he understood that it was that man's fault for being such a bastard, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was responsible. Why did he get through it all relatively unscathed? It's not like he deserved it…

After a while, Ed found himself following an officer down a hallway to a waiting room of some sort, and he waited in there for a while until a familiar figure entered the room.

"Hey," Greg said, sitting on the opposite end of the couch from Ed. "I heard from Al. You really surprised me when you ran off like that."

Ed smiled ruefully at Greg before turning back to stare at the wall opposite him. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's fine. I mean, you did catch him, and I heard you made a lot of people jealous when you beat the crap out of that guy."

Ed would have laughed if he had been in a better mood. "Did Al give it to you?"

"What, the alchemy book? Yeah, thanks."

"Don't think of it as a gift," Ed muttered. "I hate it when people don't finish what they start."

"What, is that a threat?"

Ed looked Greg straight in the eye. "What do you think?"

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Finally, Greg stood up. "Well, I have to go talk to Grissom now, but don't worry, I'm sure I'll be transmuting by the next time we meet."

Ed smiled. For some reason, talking to Greg had really helped to cheer him up. "I'll remember you said that."

"See you later," Greg said as he exited the room.

"Yeah, see you," Ed replied before turning back to the wall. He wondered how long he'd have to wait before he could get out of here…

--------------

"And so, there's no other option but to rule self-defense," Catherine said as she and Grissom walked down the hall. "Bad news for Ecklie. I think he's got it in for Ed."

"Well, it is a difficult situation. He's positive we're breaking the rules, but there are no laws that apply to this kind of case. Ed's just… here."

"I think this might drive him insane. Could make life interesting around here, though," Catherine said.

"As long as we can get Ed home soon, I don't think it matters."

"You're getting pretty attached to him, aren't you?"

Grissom stopped in midstride and turned to face Catherine. "Care to explain what you're talking about?"

"Well, it's pretty clear to me that he means a lot to you. Is that because of the alchemy or something else?"

"Look at it this way," Grissom said as he continued walking. "We're dealing with a kid who's grown up in what would probably be the equivalent of the Holocaust. None of us know what that's like, and none of us could possibly imagine what it's like without actually experiencing it. Then you take into account his personal history, not to mention what's happened to him in this city, and it's a miracle he's functioning as well as he is."

"You respect him."

"Precisely."

Catherine smiled. "Well, he's been a good influence on Greg, at least. The lab's had a peaceful quiet since he's started studying alchemy."

"Speaking of which, I took a look at that book Ed and Al gave him," Grissom said. "It's complicated. There is no way a nine-year-old could understand that."

"One more reason to respect him, huh?" Catherine checked her watch. "Well, I need to pick up Lindsey. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you."

----------------

And thus, we come upon the most explicit scenes I'll ever write in a fanfiction. Yeah, don't get your hopes up. Ever.

Now, original fiction is a different story…


	18. Chapter 17

Ugh… sorry for the wait, I've been breandead for the past month or so… Meaning I had no effing clue what to write, and it sucked. One or two more chapters to go.

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Grissom stared at his computer screen, focusing so much on the information displayed that he didn't hear the knocking on the door until Ecklie entered the room.

"Hello, Ecklie. Did you know that the Persian religion did not permit human sacrifices?"

"No, I didn't, and I don't quite understand how this is relevant to your case."

Grissom looked up from the screen. "According to both Elric brothers and Greg Sanders, Edward and Alphonse were both born and raised in a country called Amestris. Amestris happens to be a Persian queen who died around 440 BC."

"I see," Ecklie replied before sitting down across from Grissom. "Well, speaking of the Elric brothers, why exactly are you allowing a thirteen year old boy to wear a seven foot tall suit of armor in the lab?"

"Due to what Edward has described as the worst mistake of his life, the boys were exposed to a chemical reaction that caused extensive damage to them both, both physically and mentally. I've seen what's underneath that armor and I can confirm it."

"But… why the armor?"

"Ed describes it as a hobby. He also has a strange sense of style, as his outfit of choice is black leather and a red trench coat."

Ecklie shook his head in disbelief. "Some kids… About this so-called country. It doesn't exist."

"I agree. There is no such thing as the country of Amestris in this world."

"But you think there's another world out there whose residents just happen to be humans who speak flawless English?"

"As I said, according to the Elric brothers and Greg Sanders."

"You know, this is the type of story I'd expect from Sanders, but not you."

Grissom somehow managed to keep a straight face at this comment. "I'm simply repeating the statements I've heard from Greg and the Elrics."

"So what am I supposed to do with this case?"

"I'd say it's an international case."

"But with what country?"

Grissom shrugged. "Well, as far as I can see, one that no longer exists."

Ecklie sighed. "Fine. But what about the two boys who have no legal permission to be in this country?"

"Send them home. After all, there's no point in keeping two emotionally distraught teenagers away from the people responsible for their wellbeing, especially when it's clear that there is no evidence that Edward's actions were uncalled for."

"And what makes you think I'm going to take your advice?" Ecklie demanded.

"Do you really want to make this more complicated than it already is?" Grissom asked. "Maybe drag some more people into it? Make the case public so that maybe a civilian can call and explain the situation with more clarity than we could do ourselves?"

"Are you sure this is just about keeping things simple?" Ecklie asked.

"Yes. That's all there is to it. I want things to stay simple for us and for the victims. Isn't that what we normally do in these situations?"

Ecklie raised an eyebrow. "It seems to me that you've got a rather strong emotional attachment to Mr. Elric."

"I don't see how this matters now," Grissom replied. "After all, I took no part in collecting evidence."

"Right, right. All you did was go to this 'country' and look for the culprit instead of continuing with an investigation that you were in the middle of processing."

"We got lost."

There was a momentary silence in the office before Ecklie stood up. "I don't see why I'm doing this."

"Perhaps because it's the only solution that offers a fair amount of closure and logic in an otherwise illogical situation."

"Or so you say. You're handling the paperwork in this one, Grissom," Ecklie finished as he left the office.

Grissom let out a sigh. Well, this was probably the price he had to pay to get Ed out of here and back where he belonged. As he turned his attention back to his computer, Grissom found condolence in the fact that there would be just as much paperwork for the Amestrian military.

-------------

Sitting on a couch and staring blankly at inanimate objects seemed to be Ed's favorite pastime at the moment. His body was relaxed, and his eyes were unfocused. The third time Catherine passed by the lounge, he was staring at the book on the table. Out of curiosity, she walked up and looked down at the book. It was Greg's alchemy book.

"Did he forget it in here or something?" she asked, hoping to snap the teenager out of his depression. Each time she'd tried so far, though, nothing had worked. He was just too overwhelmed.

A moment passed, and she was beginning to think that this time would be the same when Ed, with some effort, it seemed, lifted his head and met Catherine's gaze. "What?"

"The book," Catherine said. "Did Greg forget it?"

Ed blinked and looked back down. "Oh. Actually, I didn't really notice it."

"Really? You were staring at it for a while."

"I wasn't really paying attention." Ed pulled his feet up to the couch and wrapped his arms around his knees, taking care not to aggravate his wounds. "I can't focus on anything right now."

Catherine pulled a chair out from the table and sat down facing Ed. "You're still in shock. It happens to a lot of people."

"I know. After… well, this," Ed gestured to his right arm. "Happened, it was the same thing. You'd think I'd be used to it by now," he remarked bitterly as he rested his chin on his knees.

Catherine watched Ed for a moment. So this is what it took to make him break down, something completely unrelated to his own mistakes. She pulled her chair closer and pushed his face up so she could look directly into his eyes. "You know, you can get used to pain, but that never makes it easier to deal with."

Ed pulled away and turned to face the wall. "Of course it doesn't."

It was becoming more and more obvious that Ed was not going to let Catherine help him. She watched him for another moment before deciding to change the subject. Maybe he needed to stop thinking about what happened for a while.

"Your hair looks nice," she finally said. In truth, she didn't think the color worked for him, but she was trying to cheer him up, not upset him even more.

Ed grunted in reply and rested his forehead against his knees. "I hate it."

"Then can't you use alchemy to change it back?"

It was dead silent for about five minutes, but Catherine could easily feel the change in Ed's state of mind. The sheer rage emanating from his tiny body was almost unbelievable. Finally, he brought his hands together and placed one on top of his head. There was a flash of light, and when it died down, Ed's hair was its natural color again. His face, however, was unnaturally contorted into an angry grimace. At least, that's what Catherine assumed it was. It was hard to tell.

"I take it you didn't think of that when you did it?" she asked amusedly.

"No."

Catherine watched Ed for another minute. His position hadn't changed, but he'd gone from dead eyes to angry eyes. In Ed's case, it was an improvement.

"How much longer do I have to be here?" Ed asked.

"It shouldn't be too much longer. It depends on how the trial goes."

"What'll happen to… him?"

"Well, he already had a life sentence. If we only consider his escape from prison and his attempt to kill you, on top of everything else, he'll probably get the death penalty."

Ed was silent. Catherine wasn't surprised. Despite what he had done in his rage, Ed was the type to prefer non-violent solutions. God knew the guy deserved it, but to Ed, a life was a life.

"Just think of it this way, Ed. It's either that or spending the rest of his life in a high-security facility. Anyway you look at it, there's nothing positive in his future."

Ed hugged his knees tighter to his chest. "I know, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. I just wish I could forget about this and get on with my life, but I know that won't happen."

"How do you know it won't?"

"Just look at where I am right now," Ed replied.

Catherine sighed. She had the feeling she wasn't going to get anywhere with Ed. It seemed he needed professional help… No, that would end badly. Ed knew why he felt miserable. He didn't need anyone to help him work that out. Now that she thought about it, however, it did seem like there was something else, something Ed was too afraid to talk about. She sat down next to him on the couch and waited for a moment before speaking.

"You know, you were pretty vague on the details, Ed."

"How so?" Ed asked.

"You said he talked to you, but you didn't exactly say what he told you."

Ed scowled. "I didn't think it mattered what his exact words were."

"Not in this case, no."

"Then it doesn't matter." Ed hid his head in his arms. Catherine could see the side of his face, along with his left eye. It was closed, but there was no trace of wetness. Ed still refused to cry. In fact, he hadn't cried since passing out almost two days before. Catherine shook her head. He was definitely too stubborn for his own good.

"He picked kids with light hair and eyes, like mine and Al's," Ed said after a while.

"Yeah, he did," Catherine agreed.

"Did he even care about hair color before me and Al?"

Catherine frowned. Whether she told him the truth or not, he'd still be hurt. Besides, he'd probably be resentful if she lied to him, and that was the last thing she wanted. She was about to answer when someone else replied.

"It doesn't matter what drove him to choose his victims," Grissom said from the doorway. "If he wanted something else, the only thing that would have changed was the victim."

"If we hadn't gotten away he wouldn't have become so violent," Ed retorted.

"If he hadn't murdered his friend, you might not have gotten away."

Ed opened his mouth to retort, paused for a moment, and closed it again. Catherine let out a silent sigh of relief. Maybe they were finally getting through to him.

"Ed, would you mind coming with me for a minute?" Grissom asked after a moment. Ed blinked, looked at both adults questioningly, then nodded and slowly stood up. Catherine watched the two walk away before picking up the book on the table and opening it to a random page. She stared at the text for a moment before closing the book and putting it back on the table.

"Well, it's one more thing for Greg to brag about," she muttered to herself as she got up and went back to work.

--------------

"What is it?" Ed asked as he sat down in Grissom's office. He assumed it would be another lecture on why he shouldn't be so down on himself, but then why didn't he just do it in the other room? He was proven wrong, thankfully, when Grissom handed him a stack of papers.

"Read that."

"What is it?" Ed asked again, staring dubiously at the papers.

"It's excerpts from a few select history texts. You'll probably find them to be worth reading," Grissom replied.

Ed gave Grissom a questioning look before looking at the first page. It began with some story about some place called Persia and some guy called Otanes. Then it went into the guy's family history, and, more specifically, his descendants. One name in particular caught his attention.

"Amestris?" Ed asked, looking up at Grissom.

Grissom nodded. "When I first read that, I assumed you knew about it. Now, however, there seems to be more to it."

"Maybe whoever named my country had read this," Ed remarked as he continued reading. He was intrigued; it felt like he was learning something about his homeland. What he read next, however, was even more surprising. "Xerxes."

"The husband of Amestris. I take it you've heard the name before?"

"Yeah, but…" Ed shook his head and set the papers down on the desk in front of him. "Xerxes was another country."

"Was?"

Ed nodded. "I don't know much about it, but when we were younger, we'd hear stories of the country whose emperor tried to create the perfect human being; a search for immortality."

"A search for something that doesn't exist," Grissom replied.

"Yeah. Instead of becoming immortal, every single person in the country just… died. There were barely any survivors." Ed looked up. "All that's there now is a desert. People from the country on the other side stop in the ruins when they come over here through the desert. Same with people going the other way."

"Maybe they're connected," Grissom said.

"Yeah, could be," Ed replied before going back to the papers. "Actually, now that I think about it, Amestris was founded sometime after Xerxes fell. If Amestris and Xerxes were married, then-"

"Don't read too much into it, Ed," Grissom interrupted. "After all, in your world, Amestris came after Xerxes. In ancient Persia, the two lived at the same time. They're just names, Ed."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ed replied.

"Go to the next page."

Ed nodded and began reading again. This time, he was reading about what seemed to be the alchemy that this world had 'used.' It didn't seem to be real, however, which, along with Christians persecuting alchemists and scientists in this time period, would explain why nobody used it in this world. Well, except for Greg, but that was different…

After reading a paragraph or two about the history of alchemy from nearly 500 years ago, Ed began reading about a man called Paracelsus, someone who focused on the medicinal side of alchemy. Ed frowned. He had never thought seriously of applying alchemy to medicine. That was actually a pretty good idea… At least, he thought so until he came upon this person's full name. He could feel his eyes widen in shock.

"Phillip von Hohenheim, later known as Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim," Grissom supplied. "Your father has a shorter version of the name, am I correct?"

"An alchemist with _his_ name… This is a joke, right?" Ed asked. Why exactly were their worlds so similar and yet so… well, different?

"No. It's part of history," Grissom replied. "In fact, Paracelsus is referenced in countless works of fiction."

"Then…" Ed trailed off. He honestly didn't know what he could possibly say about this. It was just too weird.

"I don't know what to tell you, Ed," Grissom said. "This is just what I've found on the subject."

"Why did you even look it up?" Ed asked.

"The name Amestris sounded familiar to me the first time you mentioned it. I was curious, so I looked it up online."

Ed blinked. Of course, the internet. Man, if he had access to that much information just by plugging in some fancy metal box, maybe he and Al would have returned to normal by now…

"Either way, I thought it was something you should know."

Ed nodded. "Right." There was a momentary silence in the room before Ed looked up. "Wait a minute, where's Al?"

"He's accompanying your savior to his new home."

"Right, that cat," Ed muttered to himself. "Great, now Al's got another argument for picking up strays."

"Don't you like cats?" Grissom asked.

"Didn't I say this before? We can't keep pets. We travel too much." Ed paused for a minute. "Do you like cats?"

"I have a dog."

Ed blinked. "Oh. What kind?"

"The big kind. His name is Hank."

"Okay…" Ed looked away at one of the many jars in the office. "I don't do well with big dogs."

"Really? Why not?"

Ed blushed. Oh well, he'd rather talk about stupid things like this at the moment… "Because usually they jump on me…"

There was an awkward silence in the room for a moment, during which Grissom's eyebrow twitched. Ed glared at the CSI and folded his arms over his chest. "I've heard all the height jokes that come with it, so don't even bother."

"I didn't say anything," Grissom replied. "I just know why they jump you."

"Really?" Ed asked skeptically. "Why?"

"Because you smell like cats."

Ed scowled. "Just because my brother probably has an army of cats hidden in his armor by now does _not_ mean I reek of cats."

There was a cough at the doorway. Ed looked back to see someone standing there, a file in his hands. "I'm not… interrupting anything, am I?" he asked, giving Ed a queer look.

"No, Hodges," Grissom replied. "We were just discussing pets."

"Oh, okay… Well, I thought you might want to know how that case of yours went. You know, the one you were working on before you mysteriously vanished and had me worrying about you every single second you were gone."

Okay, so the guy was a suck-up. Ed noted this as Hodges handed Grissom the file and turned to leave. Once he was at the doorway, however, he turned back to the room and looked at Ed. "If I may say so, your catlike attributes will serve you well on your quest to find a mate," he said before shutting the door behind him.

A minute passed.

"Uh," Ed began, but he was at quite a loss for words.

"Yes, he tends to have that effect on people," Grissom replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess," Ed answered.

"You look tired."

"Gee, I wonder why that is," Ed replied sarcastically.

Grissom stood up. "I think it's time for you to get some sleep."

---------------

The next time Grissom came in for his shift, he made sure to stop by and see Ed. He had gotten word that their killer was planning on pleading guilty, again, meaning Ed would probably go home without going through a trial. Before that, however, there were a few things that needed to be worked out.

For some reason, it didn't surprise Grissom to hear that Ed was still asleep when he arrived. He was just one of those kids who, well, slept a lot. When Grissom entered the small room, Ed was lying on his left side, facing the wall. He'd shed his blankets at some point, it seemed, but the room was warm enough that it didn't matter. Grissom watched him for a moment before turning to leave.

"Did you know I was awake when you asked about that place?" Ed asked. Grissom stopped.

"I wasn't sure," Grissom replied.

Ed was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I thought I might have been dreaming. I didn't mean to say anything about it." Ed turned and looked at Grissom. "Did you believe it?"

"Do you?"

Ed looked down at his arm. "I don't want to, but there's too much that says it really did happen."

"What do you mean?"

"He's mentioned it, right? The difference in our abilities?"

Grissom nodded. "He said he didn't know why you didn't need a circle."

"It's because of what I saw there. I can't really explain it, but when I was pulled into that… place, I just saw all these things… The first time I used alchemy without a circle was when I transmuted Al's soul. Right after this all happened."

"So… you gained the knowledge in exchange for your leg?"

"Not willingly, but yes," Ed replied. "And Al doesn't remember, but I'm sure he went through the same."

"Then I think you can rule out a hallucination," Grissom said. "Despite what they may say, there is rarely scientific information to be learned from a hallucination."

Ed gave Grissom a questioning look. "And you know this how…?"

"I've encountered a lot of people who hallucinate. Comes with the job."

"So… do you believe me?"

"I believe in evidence, Ed," Grissom replied. "But we need to go over a few things right now."

Ed nodded and slowly got to his feet. "Fine."

------------

Yes, I spelt it breandead on purpose. And now, you get to hear the best flight-from-hell story ever. Now, I go to Montana State. I went to Chicago to visit my sister for Thanksgiving. Long story short, on the way there, the car slid off the road to the airport due to ice, my flight was delayed for almost 4 hours due to snow, and my second flight was delayed due to some crap about a wheelchair.

On the way back, however, the following happened:

After a while, we hear that the flight has been delayed to around 8 because of something concerning batteris that the plane is missing and needs to get new ones from O'Hare (flying out of Midway, btw).

And then later we hear that the flight has been delayed to 9:30. So I talk to the guy at the desk (he was nice, and he definitely had a shitload of patience because I wasn't the only one with issues) and tell him that I have a flight at 11:30 that I might miss because of this delay. He, in turn, tells me that if I miss it, which I hopefully shouldn't because if they actually get the plane going at 9:30 I should have enough time to get to the next flight, then I'll have to take the next plane that goes to Bozeman, which happens to be at 9:03 pm.

I bet you know what's coming by now.

About 9:50, we finally board the plane. Half an hour later, after some more technical crap (I was wondering if it would have been easier/safer/faster to just get a different plane) we take off.  I check the time when the pilot says "fifteen minutes till landing" and it's 11:18. I decide that I shall run like hell as soon as I know where I'm going.

I leave the plane, get out and go to the desk at the gate, and sure enough, I missed my connection.

Moral of the story: I hate Northwest Airlines.


	19. Chapter 18

Yeah, sorry for the month and a half delay in finishing this… I got distracted. Or something. Yeah, distracted.

Anyway, this is officially the final chapter. Except I have an extra that I might post if nobody cares about spoilers for chapter 76… Now I have one less fic to worry about, yay!

-------------

Doing paperwork was probably Roy's least favorite task, especially the kind that comes with an extremely complicated case such as Ed's, but he owed Hughes a favor. Not to mention Roy had been the one to get Ed involved in the first place, so he had brought it upon himself. However, when Ed finally returned to East City with Grissom, he found it was worth it. And when he heard what Ed had done to that sick bastard, Roy found it hard not to dance in ecstasy. Finally, the pipsqueak beat the crap out of the one person who deserved it most.

Ed was disturbingly quiet when he arrived in Roy's office and sat down in one of the two chairs in front of Roy's desk. Grissom sat in the other. He seemed accustomed to Ed's silence, but then again, he was the one who had been dealing with the kid for the past several days. Roy would have to get Ed out of the room for a while later on.

Attempting to discuss the issue was difficult as well; Roy soon gave up on Ed and sent him out of the room. To his surprise, Ed went without a word.

"I suppose he's been like that since it happened," Roy said after the door closed behind the small alchemist.

"On and off," Grissom replied. "He's been improving."

"Good," Roy said. "Hughes is taking a few days off. Officially, this man is missing, but the families need to hear that he's been caught."

"And he's on Death Row," Grissom added. "In a high security facility."

Roy frowned for a moment. "Does he know?" he asked, gesturing to the door.

"Yes."

Roy sighed. "He didn't take the news so well, did he?"

Grissom sighed as well. "No. He didn't."

"Of course he wouldn't," Roy muttered, mostly to himself. Ed was as bad as Major Armstrong when it came to ending life.

"He understands why this guy deserves it," Grissom said after a while. "He just needs to come to terms with it."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Roy said. "He won't last a day on a battlefield."

Grissom raised an eyebrow at this comment. "I was under the impression that there wasn't a good chance of that."

"Things have settled down in the east," Roy said. "But if things escalate elsewhere, then the military won't have any problem with sending him out there. They've used alchemists in the past, and age doesn't matter to the military. It's a race," Roy continued, "to find what he needs before he's assigned to the battlefield. Otherwise he'll just turn out like the rest of us."

"Like the rest of you?"

Roy nodded. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, Lieutenant Hawkeye, and several others you've met here are all responsible for the destruction of the nation of Ishbal. Thousands of lives ended in our hands. It's a dangerous race he's running, and that's one of the reasons he'll recover quickly."

"He doesn't have a choice," Grissom concluded.

"Thank you for helping him," Roy said. "Maybe this time he can slow down for a while."

---------------

_How long has it been?_

Ed walked back down the hall and looked at the clock in a nearby office as he passed by. Ten minutes so far. Well, considering who was talking, it could be either good or bad. One thing he knew for sure, though; it was definitely about him.

_Out of all the people that bastard could have picked, it just had to be me,_ Ed thought as he turned back around. His mind had been in constant turmoil since they had returned. They had finally rationalized, to a point, the way between Amestris and Las Vegas. A few things were necessary: a space empty of people and the will to travel between worlds. However, none of this made sense to Ed, nor to anyone else involved, and thus Benji the Plothole Monster made them not care.

However, that wasn't what was bothering him. What troubled him more was the fact that that bastard had found his way into Amestris in the first place. If that hadn't happened—if he hadn't found a place where he could simply take and leave his victims with such ease—he would have been caught a long time ago. But of course, he just had to find his way into the country. The bastard was probably drunk at the time as well.

_But,_ he thought, _it's not like we can do anything now._ No, there wasn't anything he could do about past events, though he wished he could. He hadn't gone into specifics when he had talked about getting Kyle out of there, but by this point in time, he didn't think he ever could. He had practically promised the bastard that he could have Al! Why the hell had he even said it? He should have just let the guy think he was giving his life up and pretended to exchange his own life for Kyle's safety.

_But would he have let Kyle go in that case?_ That thought was the only one he could use to justify his actions to himself. That one little question was the thing that made this so difficult. Had he really been justified in saying what he did?

_You could have made yourself more appealing to him than having two kids ever would be,_ came some response from deep inside his mind, and it was true. Ed knew virtually nothing about appealing to sick-minded old men, but he probably could have pulled it off.

_Well, damn. Now I'm right back where I started._ Ed let out an audible sigh as he turned around once again and resumed his pacing. Why did everything in his life have to be so difficult?

His line of thought was brought to an abrupt halt when he was jerked back by his hood. As soon as he regained his balance, Ed sent a glare at Mustang that he felt should be commemorated. Sadly, however, it was wasted on the Colonel's serious gaze. Damn, he always felt like such a little kid when they looked at him like that.

"This is the first time I've ever seen you pacing out here, Fullmetal," Roy said.

"Yeah, well, half the time you don't bother looking out here anyway," Ed retorted. "Don't you have work to do?"

"Nothing that can't wait. Most of it involves you, anyway."

"Yeah? How so?" Ed asked, although he already knew the answer.

"I have a new assignment for you."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Already?"

Roy smirked, although it lacked its usual arrogance. "Well, I have to assign it, otherwise you would never do it."

"In other words, I'm going to hate it," Ed translated.

"You're going to Central for a while. You will stay with Hughes and his family, and you will do whatever he asks you to do while you're there."

"You're making me his slave?" Ed asked incredulously.

"No. I'm making _him_ your caretaker for a while. We've all agreed it's for the best."

Ed scowled. "And let me guess. You want me to talk to a psychologist while I'm there."

"If Hughes feels it's necessary, then yes."

"Look, I don't _need_ any help. Aren't you the one who always told me I had to stay focused on my goals no matter what?"

"Fullmetal, what are the elements most commonly found in wood?"

Ed blinked. He knew all that, of course, but he couldn't think of the answers so easily at the moment. There was too much going on in his mind…

"See? You can't even come up with a basic answer. How are you supposed to help your brother if you can't even think logically?"

Ed sighed. Mustang had a good point. There was no way he'd be able to keep his mind on his goals in this state. "Fine. You win. Happy now?"

"I'll be happier when you can answer the question without a second thought," Roy said before heading back to his office. "Now come on. Your friend is leaving soon."

_My friend?_ Ed followed, wondering what Roy was talking about. Sure, he liked Grissom, but everything the man had done for him was because it was his job. What part of that was friendship?

As they walked through headquarters to the front gate, Ed kept his head up. He was determined to get through this as quickly as possible, and he wanted to leave a decent impression on the CSI. After all, he didn't know if he'd be seeing him anytime soon.

"Well, Ed, I guess this is goodbye," Grissom said as the three of them arrived at the gate.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ed said in reply. "See you."

Grissom made his way over to the door, stopped, and looked at Ed one last time. "Come by and visit sometime. You're always welcome."

"Yeah, sure."

And with that, Grissom walked out into the streets of East City.

---------------

**Epilogue**

The knock on the door was barely enough to snap Ed out of his reverie, and as he moved to answer it, he felt an almost irrepressible urge to ignore it and go to sleep. There was no denying he needed it. But instead, he opened the door and came face to face with one of the concierges, who held out a note.

"This was just delivered for you, Mr. Elric."

"Oh, thanks," Ed replied as he took the note. He opened it as he closed the door behind him and skimmed the contents before folding it and picking up his coat.

"Brother? Where are you going?" Al asked from his seat on the couch.

Ed waved the note in his brother's face as he replied. "It's from Grissom. He said he has something he wants to tell me."

"So you're going?"

Ed shrugged. "I figure it's better than sitting around here and sulking. Besides, he should know about… what happened."

"Ah. Okay, then. Do you want me to go with you?"

"Nah, you should stay with Winry. That way she has someone to talk to if she needs it."

"Good idea. I'll see you later, brother."

"Yeah."

------------------

"Hey."

Grissom looked up to see Greg at his door. The younger CSI was lingering in the hallway, obviously eager to get back to work. "Did you get it to him?"

"Yeah, I dropped it off at the hotel he's staying at. They said they'd get it to him right away."

"Okay. Thanks, Greg."

Greg waved and walked off. Grissom went back to working, not looking up until he heard a knock on his door.

"I got the message," Ed said as he entered the office. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Just a minute, Ed," Grissom said. "Why don't you sit down?"

When Grissom finally looked up from his computer, Ed was sitting across from him, his hands curled into fists and resting on his knees. Grissom had seen this pose a few times before, when Ed was nervous or upset. Grissom decided it would be best to give him the news and let him go, so he did.

"The execution was last week. All the legal issues were worked out, and now he's out of your lives for good."

Ed looked at Grissom for a moment, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions, before he went back to staring at the desk. "Oh, okay."

Grissom frowned. This wasn't the reaction he'd expected. "Ed, you know what he did. You're giving him more sympathy than he deserves," he said.

Ed looked up in surprise before shaking his head. "No, it's nothing like that," he said. "It's just been a bad week."

Grissom's frown deepened. He could tell Ed was leaving a lot out, though whether that was intentional or not, he couldn't say. At least, not until he knew more about the situation. "What happened?"

Ed looked up again, then turned back to his hands. Whatever had happened, it had definitely hurt the alchemist a lot. Grissom braced himself. Finally, Ed looked back up, and with an effort, he whispered, "Hughes is dead."

The room was dead silent for a moment before Grissom found his voice again. "How?"

Ed let out a tired sigh; it was evident he hadn't slept well lately. "He was shot."

In a way, Grissom wasn't surprised in the least. After all, though Hughes had been working a desk job, he was still a soldier. In a corrupt military, no less. In fact, if the situation had been different, he wouldn't have been quite so shaken by this. After all, he had only worked with Hughes for a few days.

Even so, hearing those words was painful.

"I guess it happened a while ago," Ed continued. "But we just found out two days ago. Apparently Mustang didn't think it was important enough for us to know," he finished bitterly.

"Maybe it wasn't at the time," Grissom offered. He didn't know what exactly had happened, but it seemed there was more to this than a simple murder.

Ed scowled. "The only reason I know what happened is because I read the article about Hughes's so-called killer. Mustang had every opportunity to tell us, and instead we only found out because Al likes to read the newspaper. And then that bastard had to go and do that to Lieutenant Ross–"

"Wait a second," Grissom interrupted. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Ed took a deep breath and nodded. "Al, Winry, and I just got to Central two days ago. We stopped by headquarters to see if Hughes was around, but instead we met Mustang, who had been transferred there. We asked him about it, he said Hughes had gone with his family to the countryside. Then Al found an article in the newspaper. It said that Second Lieutenant Maria Ross had been convicted of killing him." Ed paused here, and Grissom could almost see the rage radiating from his body. "That night, Lieutenant Ross was burned to a crisp by the Flame Alchemist while attempting to escape from prison."

Now Grissom could see why Ed was so angry with Colonel Mustang. "You knew her, didn't you?"

Ed nodded. "She wasn't a killer. The military probably just chose her to keep people from questioning it."

The room lapsed into silence once again as both occupants focused on their thoughts. Grissom understood Ed's logic well enough, but on the other hand, maybe it was a case of misinterpreting the evidence. After all, forensics in Amestris had yet to develop completely. If that really was the case…

"You know, Ed, I have a decent amount of vacation days stored up. If–"

"No."

The sudden response was rather startling, and Grissom raised an eyebrow at the young alchemist.

"The investigation ended when Ross was sent to prison," Ed continued. "And there's nothing you could use as evidence. It's too late," he finished, looking straight into Grissom's eyes. There was a desperate plea in those eyes, one that Grissom recognized from years of experience.

_Don't get involved._

"Okay, I understand," he said finally. "Just be careful, okay?"

Ed nodded, and gave a small, grateful smile. "I'll try." And with that, he stood. "I should probably go back now. I'll see you later."

"All right," Grissom replied. Ed turned and walked to the door, but before he left, Grissom realized something. "Hey, Ed?"

Ed turned.

"If you need help, just ask for it, okay?"

Ed gave another small smile. "Yeah, sure. Thanks."

"_Well, I know one thing. Those two aren't normal." _He had definitely been right about that. And as he watched the teenager leave, Grissom hoped that was a good thing.

---------------

And it's done. Much thanks to AkitaFallow for being my beta (and fixing some rather embarrassing typos in this chapter… what happened to my grammar skills? NO DON'T LEAVE ME GRAMMAR SKILLS!).

Also, if anyone's interested, I have another reason for why I didn't finish this up for so long. Another fic. And no, not one of the other fics on here, one that you people probably haven't seen because it's on a different site and I just don't feel like posting it here for some reason. It's a crossover (surprisingly) with LotR, and it's (to my joy and dismay) going to be one of those epic never-ending stories of doom. I'll probably do email alerts if anyone reads it and likes it…

Link: lotrfanfiction (dot) com (slash) viewstory (dot) php?sid (equal sign) 10691

So yeah, PM me if you read it and want update alerts. That way it won't feel like I'm dead because I've actually been updating that one fairly regularly.


	20. extra The Dream

Yeah, here's that extra I promised… You'd better enjoy it, or else… something will happen. Yes. Something will happen. So anyway, THIS CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 76 SO DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT.

Also, this deviates from the manga because I… well, made stuff up to suit my needs. You'll see what I mean if you've been keeping up with the manga.

-------------

"I still don't believe it."

_Grissom…?_

"Everyone dies, you know. I guess he just ran out of luck."

_Huh? Who ran out of luck?_

Nothing. He could barely feel, he couldn't see, everything felt so… well, empty. All he could do was listen to the familiar voices, until he felt a pressure on his eyelids. Someone seemed to be opening them. But then, why couldn't he just open them himself? He tried to blink, but his body didn't respond.

"Definitely dead," the older, bearded man on his left said. Ed recognized him from that one day in the morgue, back when he was twelve. He looked to his right and saw Grissom. This was eerily similar to that one day. He was even in the same place in the morgue.

Wait, if he was in the morgue, then did that mean…

"_Definitely dead."_

Oh, hell no.

"And as far as I can tell, the COD was that giant metal beam that impaled him. He took some damage from that fall, too, but that couldn't have killed him so quickly."

He looked back up at Grissom. The CSI seemed sad. Did Ed really mean that much to him?

"But how did the building collapse?" Grissom asked. He was probably asking himself. After all, a coroner probably wouldn't know much about using alchemy to destroy buildings.

"Kimbley," Ed stated, but nobody seemed to hear him.

"Who knows? It could have been an old building," Robbins replied. "I noticed something else while performing the autopsy, though. His prosthetics are much lighter. My guess is they're made from a different kind of metal."

"That's because Winry got me northern use automail," Ed stated, but once again, nobody seemed to hear him.

"He didn't deserve this," Grissom said.

"Of course I didn't!" Ed practically shouted, but yet again, his words fell upon deaf ears. What the hell was going on?

"His friend's in Brass's office, right? How's she taking this?"

"Not so good," Grissom replied. "I guess Ed broke some promise by dying."

"No…" Ed groaned. What promise? He'd made a lot of promises to Winry, but he supposed that he'd broken all of them by now…

The door opened, and all turned to see Greg enter the room. "I heard from Catherine," he said as he approached and looked down at Ed. "I didn't think it could happen."

"None of us did, apparently," Grissom replied. Ed wished he could cry. He was right here, damn it! He wasn't dead!

Or was this what happened when you died…?

"Grissom! I'm right here!" he tried to say, but this time, he couldn't even hear his own words.

"Look, I know how close you two were," Grissom continued. "I think you should take some time off."

"Damn it! Listen to me!"

"Wait, I want to help with this case," Greg replied. "I can help-"

"It was Kimbley, you morons!"

"No."

"Come on, I'm not dead! I can't be dead! I… Who will help Al now? Al…"

"I'm right here, brother."

Ed started, or at least would have if he could move, and looked over to his left, where there was another body on another table. There was Al, a dead… suit of armor?

"What the hell is going on here?!"

--------------------

Grissom blinked as he saw the unconscious alchemist jerk in his sleep. This was the first movement he'd seen since Greg had somehow gotten the small teenager out of his world and into Vegas. Since then, Ed had been in the hospital, and Grissom had to admit that what he'd seen when he first came to visit was shocking.

"Seriously, how do you _regain_ an arm and a leg?" Sara asked. Grissom started. He hadn't heard her enter the room.

"I suppose we'll just have to ask him when he wakes up," Grissom replied.

"You know, someone was just checked in with an extreme case of malnutrition and sensitivity to touch," Sara commented.

Grissom looked up at her. "Is that so? Is it something I need to look into?"

"Could be. The patient's name is Alphonse Elric."

"How did he get here?"

"I dropped them off."

"Them?"

"Yeah, there was a girl with him. She says she knows you. Should I send her in here?"

Grissom looked back at Ed, whose face was contorted into a grimace, probably from the pain. "Yeah. And could you see if there's any way we can get the two into the same room?"

"Sure thing."

Once Sara had left, Grissom turned his attention back to the pale, unconscious figure in the hospital bed. This was probably the worst Grissom had ever seen Ed, and he still had yet to figure out how Ed's kidney had remained completely untouched, and it even had some flesh around it, covering the organ and protecting it enough to ensure survival. The doctors said that Ed would take a long time to recover, but he could make it. They had found him in time.

The door opened, and Sara entered the room, followed by a familiar girl with long blonde hair. She seemed nervous, and her eyes were red, but other than that, she seemed to be much better off than her surrogate family.

"I'm… going to see if I can get them into the same room," Sara said before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her. Winry nodded her thanks before the door shut and walked up to the bed.

"I didn't think… For some reason, I pictured this day to be a lot happier," Winry whispered as she sat down in the other empty chair next to the bed. Grissom had sat further away from the bed when he'd come in, and now he was glad that he had.

"Does that mean you aren't happy?" he asked.

Winry shook her head. "No, I… I should have expected this, actually," she said, her voice suddenly becoming cross. "These two idiots always do this, so why should this time be any different? I'm sure his automail would be destroyed if he still had it, too."

Ed shifted once again in his sleep, and Winry looked back at him. "Is he… dreaming?" she asked, more to herself than to Grissom, but the CSI was curious as well.

"Could be," he said in response.

"No…" Ed muttered. This surprised both Grissom and Winry. Grissom had been told that Ed wouldn't wake up for at least two more days, and Winry had probably come to the same conclusion. The mechanic immediately reached down and grabbed Ed's left hand, squeezing it to tell Ed she was there for him.

And it would have been such a beautiful moment, too.

"I don't wanna go to Vegas," Ed muttered next.

Okay, now that was just offensive. What, did Ed not like him anymore?

And then there stood a pink-haired kid in the doorway. "Hey, he's having a morgue dream now. What, am I not allowed to be in these stories anymore?"

--------------

This story helped me cope with that damn cliffhanger Arakawa-sensei left us with.

Yeah, so in case you were confused, Ed found the stone that Kimbley dropped and used it to fix him and Al up and restore the organs that got obliterated by that giant beam. And then they ended up in CSI land. Yeah. Completely realistic. Definitely.


End file.
